Rooster Talons ...

[Peppercorngal]

Maybe you’re just lucky. Do you let them free range by any chance? I had chickens when I was a kid and never remember having this problem. Now I have to keep mine in their coop/run (but it’s pretty big, about 230 sq ft, but maybe being confined has something to do with it, or maybe because my Gerard is just so young (will be a year old in June).
Anyway, I’ve decided to put Gerard in his own space and the little bantam boy in with the girls (he weighs the same as a piece of paper, so I worry much less about him hurting the girls .

Yes, they get to free range all day every day. And perhaps because Gerard is young, he's not got "the hang of it yet". Harvey has always been slow and gentle even when young. He's 3 now and just the love of my flock. I love him, the girls love him too!

 

[Peppercorngal]

Every now and then I find it best to "pull" the spurs off and let new ones grow in. Not only can they inadvertently hurt their hens, often large spurs effect fertility.
It's a bit of a task, and you have to be ready to bandage them up and separate them for a while if they bleed much (some do, some don't), but I find it quite a bit easier than trying to trim or file them down.

I would never "pull" out my boy's spurs. That is cruel. If it causes bleeding it's causing pain. Not nice, not nice at all.

 

[aart]

I would never "pull" out my boy's spurs. That is cruel. If it causes bleeding it's causing pain. Not nice, not nice at all.

They probably mean pull the sheathing off.

 

[orrpeople]

Never heard that one @orrpeople
How would it effect fertility in the male....or just difficulty with mating?

Had a conversation with Raven and Ktnpusher(I think that's who it was) a couple years ago - apparently the spurs had gotten really long and curved and his ability to mate was not as successful.

 

[CalBickieMomma]

You have something else going on to cause gash. Show a picture of wound on hens.

I have a picture of her wound after getting her stitches. Also, I’ve seen smaller gashes (nothing serious, but still torn skin) on my other girls (the broken/missing feathers from my roo exposed the bare skin over time, so perhaps that added to the vulnerability). Oh, and the vet had to remove her feathers so he could tend the wound, so her baldness is from surgery.

 

[CalBickieMomma]

Yes, they get to free range all day every day. And perhaps because Gerard is young, he's not got "the hang of it yet". Harvey has always been slow and gentle even when young. He's 3 now and just the love of my flock. I love him, the girls love him too!

View attachment 2060947

That’s definitely probably part of it - rooster experience . Most of my chickens are only 9 mo. old, and I only had 6 hens in with him (because two are Polish and way too small for him, and two are Easter Eggers who were getting picked on by the other hens and favored by him (I had them in the spare side compartment until their back feathers grew back, then let them back into the main coop/run and by the end of the day, their backs were bare again - grrrr! - so the Polish and EE’s were in a diff pen).

Anyway, I think I’ve got it figured out. I’ve put Gerard in one of the side compartments (about 32 sq. ft. but attached to the main coop so he can still see everybody) and I put all the hens and my Serama/bantam Leghorn roo in together (Rori, the bantam, weighs about as much as a piece of paper, so although his little spurs are more impressive than Gerard’s, I don’t worry so much about him causing damage ). I’ll attach some pictures below.

 

[centrarchid]

You have something else going on.

 

[CalBickieMomma]

You have something else going on.

Any idea what it might be? I think the vet had to cut away some dead skin, so this gash looks bigger than what it probably looked like from the beginning. I did have this happen to one of my hens years ago (a different rooster this time and I ended up losing the hen). I separated the rooster right away and never had this happen again. Also, in both cases, they were/are young birds and I’ve seen my current roo slip off the girls’ backs on occasion during mating and I could see how a claw or spur might tear the skin on her hip.

 

[centrarchid]

Check for exposed wires she might be rubbing up against. Is it possible a critter reached through at night to nip or scratch her?

I wanted to see good picture of hen prior to vet doing work. Rooster damage I look for is higher up on back rather than back on thigh.

Spurs can be a issue so trim to be safe.

I do not have experience with pairings where males are so much bigger than females.

 

[CalBickieMomma]

Check for exposed wires she might be rubbing up against. Is it possible a critter reached through at night to nip or scratch her?

I wanted to see good picture of hen prior to vet doing work. Rooster damage I look for is higher up on back rather than back on thigh.

Spurs can be a issue so trim to be safe.

I do not have experience with pairings where males are so much bigger than females.

Thank you! I’ll definitely check the coop for other sharp culprits. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a before picture (though the laceration opening was probably half the size of what it looked like after the vet visit and looked like it was in the right place for a claw or spur to catch if the rooster’s foot slipped).
Right now, my big boy is in one of the smaller compartments within the coop and the tiny bantam boy is in with the hens. So far, that arrangement is working well.