Should I clip extra long nails in ex-bats?

[Flock Leader]

Hello everyone, sorry if this topic is in the wrong section of the forum, didn't know whether to put it here or somewhere else! Anyway... about a month ago, we got 4 ex-battery hens in addition to our small flock of home-raised birds. You can imagine their condition... one chicken looked almost ready to go into soup, she had so few feathers left. They are white leghorns, as most battery layers here are - we've raised white leghorns before, so were able to fully appreciate just how rough these birds have had it.

Now they have improved, and the bald chicken is feathering out beautifully, but I'm sort of concerned about their nails. Two of the chickens have enormous nails - at least 2 inches - which I assumed was because they were never allowed to scratch. I thought they would be worn down by scratching, but so far they appear to have grown even longer! I think they are now just too long for the chickens to be able to scratch with them, and also the poor hens look like they are limping because of the nails.

So... should I clip? How? Never touched my chickens' nails before so advice is appreciated!

 

[aoxa]

Clip them I clip my birds when ever they need it. My silkies don't wear down their nails like some of the other birds, so they get a clip a few times a year.

It's really easy. I did it with just regular nail clippers. Just get the tips off and file if you are afraid of getting the quick. Good luck!

Also thank you for rescuing those hens! They needed you

 

[thebanthams]

you can use dog nail clippers to trim those nails back , but you have to be careful not to cut them very short ! or the will bleed and get infected !. I dont know how long are they, but trim then a little at a time like maybe a fourth inch off. give them some sand and hope they can scratch the dirt around. Sometimes nails will get dry and break off easily.

 

[Flock Leader]

Thanks! Speaking of silkies, we have one mixed silkie chicken who just used to have massive amounts of poo sticking to her feet when she was little. I'd change the bedding often but it didn't help, the poo would stick and dry out and the poor chick carried huge amounts of cement-dry poo on her feet all the time. None of the other chicks in the same flock had that. My husband would hold her feet in warm water and only then he managed to get the poo off without risk of injury to the chick's toes. This "chicken pedicure" had to be repeated every week until the chick grew a little older.

 

[aoxa]

Thanks! Speaking of silkies, we have one mixed silkie chicken who just used to have massive amounts of poo sticking to her feet when she was little. I'd change the bedding often but it didn't help, the poo would stick and dry out and the poor chick carried huge amounts of cement-dry poo on her feet all the time. None of the other chicks in the same flock had that. My husband would hold her feet in warm water and only then he managed to get the poo off without risk of injury to the chick's toes. This "chicken pedicure" had to be repeated every week until the chick grew a little older. 

Huh.. What kind of bedding did you use?

I never had this problem. I mean they would the first week when on paper towel, but after that it wasn't an issue.

 

[Flock Leader]

We used old newspapers at first, then wood shavings... didn't make the slightest difference. Perhaps this was also because the chick was a little weak when hatched and used to just stand in her poop a lot. But nursing her until she was stronger was so worth it, she's the sweetest chicken and the children's great favorite!

 

[aoxa]

We used old newspapers at first, then wood shavings... didn't make the slightest difference. Perhaps this was also because the chick was a little weak when hatched and used to just stand in her poop a lot. But nursing her until she was stronger was so worth it, she's the sweetest chicken and the children's great favorite! 

Oh if she was weak and didn't scratch around the poo would have just dried. Usually they will scratch around and any poop that they did step in will wear off.

Glad you got her healthy! I bet she's a doll!