Trimming spurs

[farmkat55]

Ok, our Mr. Cogburn has some hellacious spurs going on and I wonder if I can get some ideas of the best way to trim them? He's a doll and easy to handle and we have trimmed them just a bit before with the bigger dog nail clippers, but he needs more than a bit taken off this time!
Thanks for any help!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Kathy, could you post a photo so we can see what they look like? More curiosity than anything else but it may spark a suggestion.

The way I trim them is with a Dremel tool, using one of those discs you use to cut metal. I wrap them in a large towel around the wings, lay him down, and hold onto his feet. Wrapping him like that seems to really calm him down.

The spur has a quick. If you cut into the quick he will bleed. Usually they don't bleed much but it's a good idea to have a handful of flour or cornstarch handy to toss on to control bleeding. I've cut the quick before and the rooster did not even flinch, but I try to avoid that. I think the speed of the Dremel cutting wheel heats up enough that it may cauterize the wound, thus limiting bleeding.

It's hard to tell exactly where the quick is, it can vary some from one rooster to another. Usually if I take off less than 25% of the spur length I miss it.

When I finish I just toss him back in the run with his hens, no medical treatment required. He typically mates with a hen to show it is still his flock and things are back to normal.

 

[ASteelman]

My 3 year old ameraucana rooster was growing some super long spurs, so I finally tried the twist and pull off method with some pliers (look up youtube videos for this). They came off nice and easy. I'd been afraid to try that method for a long time but it was fine. There was a small amount of blood around the base of the quick but it dried off in a day or so.

I was afraid that the quick would be very long underneath the long, curved spur but it was normal length. I'll never bother trimming again.

 

[farmkat55]

Yeah, I have seen both of those methods mentioned and am thinking we may do the Dremel one. We have always had lots of critters and I have been a vet assistant so I knew about the quick and figured the heat of the Dremel would in effect cauterize it so minimal if any, blood. I have also seen the twist method and we hesitate as it seems like the quick is then totally exposed till the sheath grows back and just looked like it could be open for infection or getting dirty at the least? I also can't understand how the exposed quick isn't painful!

 

[farmkat55]

Kathy, could you post a photo so we can see what they look like? More curiosity than anything else but it may spark a suggestion.

The way I trim them is with a Dremel tool, using one of those discs you use to cut metal. I wrap them in a large towel around the wings, lay him down, and hold onto his feet. Wrapping him like that seems to really calm him down.

The spur has a quick. If you cut into the quick he will bleed. Usually they don't bleed much but it's a good idea to have a handful of flour or cornstarch handy to toss on to control bleeding. I've cut the quick before and the rooster did not even flinch, but I try to avoid that. I think the speed of the Dremel cutting wheel heats up enough that it may cauterize the wound, thus limiting bleeding.

It's hard to tell exactly where the quick is, it can vary some from one rooster to another. Usually, if I take off less than 25% of the spur length I miss it.

When I finish I just toss him back in the run with his hens, no medical treatment required. He typically mates with a hen to show it is still his flock and things are back to normal.

I am not near the coop right now to get pics of his spurs but they are long enough to touch for sure and pretty much can cross over! He still walks ok but I don't want him jumping on any of the hens and stabbing them!

 

[ASteelman]

Yeah, I have seen both of those methods mentioned and am thinking we may do the Dremel one. We have always had lots of critters and I have been a vet assistant so I knew about the quick and figured the heat of the Dremel would in effect cauterize it so minimal if any, blood. I have also seen the twist method and we hesitate as it seems like the quick is then totally exposed till the sheath grows back and just looked like it could be open for infection or getting dirty at the least? I also can't understand how the exposed quick isn't painful!

The spur does not contain nerve endings. I was worried about hurting him too but he literally did not react at all! I personally would worry more about infecting the quick by cutting into it, since it is living flesh.

 

[farmkat55]

The spur does not contain nerve endings. I was worried about hurting him too but he literally did not react at all! I personally would worry more about infecting the quick by cutting into it, since it is living flesh.

Yeah I know the spur itself doesn't have feeling like our nails, but the nerve under it is also like us cutting ours or a dog's, etc nails too short. It hurts! But infection is the most concern, I agree.