What do about Roosters spurs

[ihavechicks]

Tonight, I opened my chicken house door and found my rooster hanging upside down. I thought that he might be dead & thankfully when I grabbed his foot it was still warm. I am not sure how it happened. One of his spurs hooked around the roost and he was trapped hanging upside down. I am not sure how long he had been there, but he is still alive & was limping a little. He is spending the night in one of the nesting boxes. What can I do about his spurs? I have heard that they can't be trimmed, but I am worried that this will happen again. Any thoughts?

 

[chickentooth]

Wrap the rooster in a towel so he can't flap and have someone hold him.
measure from the base of the spur at the leg and draw a pencil line at 5/8"-3/4"
cut off the spur at the pencil line you marked.
Use a dremil tool and cutoff wheel to cut, or a pair of clippers that are large enough like hoof trimmers.

I would measure a little bit more like 3/4" from the base just in case of a mistake.

Make sure you have stiptic pencil or blood clotting powder handy incase of bleeding.

The Spur has a blood supply just like a dog or birds nail, cut back to far and it will hurt and bleed like crazy, in most cases your just trying to blunt the spur, but in your case sounds like they are really long. The less you remove the less likely it is to hurt and bleed so be carefull with it.

 

[newchickmom]

I had to remove my rooster's spurs. It's really very easy to do. His spurs were so long he was having trouble walking.

You could wrap him in a towel, but I didn't need to. Use a pair of pliers. Get a grip at the base of the spur and twist like unscrewing a nut. You should hear a crack. Then you pull straight out. You will have the outside of the spur and there will be a shorter softer spur left. It may seep a little blood but that is all. I coated it with bag balm. Rooster is now happy.

There is a video on You-Tube that shows you how to do it.

Quick and easy!

 

[ginaseven]

I just removed my roo's spurs today. His were so long he was poking himself when roosting and drawing blood. I didn't realize how easy it was to do. I also watched the you tube video. It took about 2 mins, no blood at all, and absolutely no reaction from him at all. I wish I would have done it sooner.

 

[cafarmgirl]

Tonight, I opened my chicken house door and found my rooster hanging upside down. I thought that he might be dead & thankfully when I grabbed his foot it was still warm. I am not sure how it happened. One of his spurs hooked around the roost and he was trapped hanging upside down. I am not sure how long he had been there, but he is still alive & was limping a little. He is spending the night in one of the nesting boxes. What can I do about his spurs? I have heard that they can't be trimmed, but I am worried that this will happen again. Any thoughts?

They can be trimmed and quite easily. We pretty much do what chickentooth described. My husband trims them back with a pair of goat hoof trimmers then files them smooth so they are rounded on the ends. Just takes a couple minutes once every 4 to 6 weeks.

 

[somadlyinlove]

Think I may need to trim my guys too. I thought they were only trimmed on mean roosters or when they were hurting the hens. I didn't know they could cause other problems.