Wheaten and Blue wheaten Marans Discussion Thread

[rsquared]

Have a question for the Roo owners here. Was working with my birds today and noticed my Roos' spurs are getting bigger. How do ya'll handle that. He is not aggressive at all towards me or the girls, hence the reason he was a keeper along with how he looked. Do I need to remove said spurs? Do the spurs affect the hens adversely during mating? Thank you for the input.

 

[snowbird]

Quote:
I am a firm believer in trimming the spurs, I use one of the dog toe nail poppers , I cut mine to around and inch or less. Have a piece of chalk on hand in case it might bleed. Rub the chalk across the spur where you cut. Don

 

[knjinnm]

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Hi,
I've used a hacksaw to cut spurs but I read on another BYC thread that putting a microwaved hot potato on a spur for a few minutes will cause the outer part of the spur to slip off. The spur will always grow back like a fingernail so periodic trimming is necessary.

 

[snowbird]

Quote:
Hi,
I've used a hacksaw to cut spurs but I read on another BYC thread that putting a microwaved hot potato on a spur for a few minutes will cause the outer part of the spur to slip off. The spur will always grow back like a fingernail so periodic trimming is necessary.

The only people I know ever to do the hot potato is someone wanting to make a cock bird look like a stag or cockerel. I use the dog toe nail popper and it only takes about 30 seconds to do both. Don

 

[knjinnm]

Quote:
Yep, part of the thread discussed how unscrupulous show people would attempt to disguise young cock birds as cockerels. The conclusion was that a good judge would be able to spot the difference.
People who practice such techniques, win at no cost, usually find themselves competing by themselves. Personally if I found myself competing against a cheater ... I would pull my birds from competition. Exhibition only.

 

[berkeleysprings]

1

 

[rsquared]

Quote:
Hi,
I've used a hacksaw to cut spurs but I read on another BYC thread that putting a microwaved hot potato on a spur for a few minutes will cause the outer part of the spur to slip off. The spur will always grow back like a fingernail so periodic trimming is necessary.

The only people I know ever to do the hot potato is someone wanting to make a cock bird look like a stag or cockerel. I use the dog toe nail popper and it only takes about 30 seconds to do both. Don

Thank you everyone for your input. BYC and its members have been a wonderful resource!

Risa

 

[berkeleysprings]

i noticed no answer to your question about "do u need to remove spirs "
i have had various breeds of chickens for 5 years or so mabey 6 years and i have never had to remove spirs , my thoughts are when the roosters mount a hen its not the spirs that hert or pull feathers off her back , its the other toes doing that , now if its roosters fighting thats another ishue Issue, and I have no experience with more than one rooster with hens fighting , the many roosters I raised to almost a year old were kept in a separate pen with no hens to fight over so they got along fine but I would only imagine that roosters will and can do fatal damage to another with or without spirs ,,, I have never shown chickens so I don’t know why people would use the potato method in a show to there advantage and frankly I don’t want to no the how to cheat ,,,, I do want to show some day if ever an APA show comes close to eastern west Virginia id love to enter a bird but id have to ask the experts like don or walt or the others that know the routine about showing

Quote:
The only people I know ever to do the hot potato is someone wanting to make a cock bird look like a stag or cockerel. I use the dog toe nail popper and it only takes about 30 seconds to do both. Don

Thank you everyone for your input. BYC and its members have been a wonderful resource!

Risa

 

[knjinnm]

Quote:
Are you basing that on wing feathers?

 

[berkeleysprings]

wing feathers are some of it also i like to look at the head and at how far back the comb goes back past the eyes