Trimming toenails...

[SuburbanSue]

My girl is separated from the rest of the flock because they peck her down. The other day I put her in the yard alone and noticed she was walking funny. Her middle toenail is soooooo long, I now it's the problem. I trimmed the others but am afraid to do the middle ones. I don't want to hit the quick but they are solo long. Any help with this? Do I just cut it and get stuff to stop bleeding? I have no clue. Any thoughts would be appreciated"

 

[Michael Apple]

It is an easy process. A day or two before you clip, give a 25 mg Vitamin K tablet 1x per day. That will help coagulate the blood in case you quick the bird's nail. Get a towel, a pair of large dog nail clippers, and some blood stop powder or corn starch in a shallow lid. Wrapping the hen in a towel will keep her still while you clip. It may help to have an extra hand since you haven't done this before. With your hand grasp and support the entire foot. select the toe nail you will clip. Identify the location of the quick.

Clip the nail to almost the quick, leaving a space to prevent bleeding. File the rough edges of the nail with a nail file. Smoothing the edges prevents your chicken from cutting themselves when they scratch their eyes and bodies. If you accidentally clip too close to the quick and it bleeds, apply blood stop powder or starch to it. You may have to do it a few times , and it may take a few minutes to coagulate.

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