Ok, I have a Rhode island Red rooster named Steve who has somehow managed to rip off one of his spurs. We managed to get that cleaned up and stopped the bleeding. Its currently covered now. I do however want to trim his other one back now. What is the best way to go about doing that? Is it like a goat horn: just cut and burn it or something else?
Take a hot baked potato and put it directly onto the spur all the way down not touching his leg for one minute. Then remove the potato and use pliers to easily twist off the spur. Wipe off any blood and apply neosporin if you wish. There will be a much smaller spur underneath the one you removed. It's not necessary to cut or remove the smaller spur, besides it'll bleed incessantly. Have someone hold the roo for you and wear an oven glove when applying the hot potato. Once the potato cools, give him the potato to eat, he'll probably call his girls over for a treat lol.
You could also use olive oil to soften the spur. I take a oil drenched strip of a paper towel and wrap around the spur for a minute or so. Then get a grip with a good set of pliers. I twist slowly until I feel it give, then just pull it off. I do this about once per year. It does not hurt at all. I do it at night so it has all night to begin to harden.
