roosters

[florida chickenz]

when do roosters start to grow spurs any advice would be appreciated

 

[WalkerH]

I know people who have them removed. I have never had to do that considering this is my first batch of chicks. But if it is mean enough to spur me I'll be mean enough to cook it. Although I know people who have kept roosters and take them to the Amish around here. They take potatoes and remove them.

 

[CariLynn]

Actually the potato method doesn't work and the potato has to be REALLY hot and you need to keep it on way too long for comfort to the poor chicken. What we did was I held my roo, my husband took a pair of pliers and firmly grabbing the spur, twisted it while holding his foot. They do pop off and an inner, smaller spur is then seen, the outer part is only a shell to protect what is inside. They are soft and may bleed a bit, so we put blood stop powder and they are now not so long.

 

[WalkerH]

That is interesting CariLynn, did the roo scream a lot? I imagine it would be terribly painful for them.

 

[BooBear]

Roosters spurs start to grow when they hit the hormone stage and realize that the girls are for whoopie. This is also the time they change from sweet chicks to hormone driven terrors as they are testing each other for dominence.

Depending on the breed this can be somewhere around 6 months or more. However, my blue wyandottes that are hatchery stock started at 5 1/2 months old.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

The OP is asking this question in the "Raising Baby Chicks" section. So I'm guessing you're asking this question in order to determine which of your chicks might be roosters. How old are your chicks? The little spur bumps can be seen on both the boys & the girls. Long before your roosters begin to grow out their spurs you should have other indicators of their sex, like redder, larger combs, emerging wattles, pointy feathers growing from their hackles & saddles.

 

[dragonlair]

Is there any way to destroy the spur bud when the roo is still a chick? Sort of like disbudding a goat kid?

 

[CariLynn]

Quote:
This is the video we watched and used as a reference. Chief's spurs were previously cut and bled a lot, we did not do that to him, as I think this is a cruel way to shorten them, so we tried how the man does in the video, because his spur casings were tight, he used a pair of pliars and firmly twisted, they popped right off.

 

[florida chickenz]

ya i was wondering when my roo would start to grow spurs he is 5 weeks old i didnt know where to post this sorry

 

[Sunny Side Up]

They usually don't start to grow long until about a year of age. Spurs are like a callous, not a nail. I don't know if you could cauterize them when they're young so they wouldn't grow, don't know if it would be worth the trouble to bother the roo. It wouldn't keep a rooster from acting aggressive it it were his nature, and they can do damage with their wings, claws, & beaks too, not just their spurs. I only keep mannerly roosters. When their spurs get so long they impede their movement I'll use pliers to loosen & remove those outer sheaths.