When can you start trimming your rooster's spurs??

[miss jay's mama]

My rooster is 9 months old. His spurs are not very long, maybe an inch probably less. However my poor hens are getting hurt. I'm doing the chicken saddle thing but want to fix the source of the problem too. All of the info/pics I've found show spurs that are alot longer than his. Plus his spurs are more rounded at the tips than pointy. Is it still OK to trim them or should I just file them some? Could the damage on the hens backs be caused by his nails? I was going to trim them too. I just bought a dog nail trimmer today. Thoughts and advice greatly appreciated

 

[sunnychooks]

I noticed your signature line says you have six chickens. With one being a rooster, the ratio may be a little off since the recommendation is 1 roo to 8-12 hens (depending on the breeds). Is it possible that the rooster is damaging your hens by over-breeding them (He may be grabbing them with his beak)? The problem may not be the spurs at all. Just a thought...

 

[miss jay's mama]

Unfortunately one of the female chicks turned out to be male. Turns out that happens a lot

. I did not know this at the time.By the time I found out she was a he I was attached. I am hoping I don't have to get rid of him

and I don't want more chickens than I already have. Sooo I'm hoping(hopefully not in vain) that I can fix the damage he has done and prevent future problems. BUT I'm new to this and am not sure if that is possible.

I don't think biting is causing the problem to their backs it looks like scratches. Any ideas on trimming the spurs???

 

[Mesa]

Try a dremmel. Wrap your roo in a towel with only his legs sticking out. (make sure he can breathe of course.)

 

[ivan3]

Since this is just getting started I'd suggest rounding spurs further (if done every couple weeks will never be an issue). While you've got him just rasp off the sharp tips of the claws as well. He'll still pull out some feathers but it should reduce the scratches. Get a package of heavy grit emery boards, they'll work.

 

[miss jay's mama]

My DH and I will be trimming him today. I'm going to wrap him up and DH gets to do the "fun" part . I'll let everyone know how I make out.

So we trimmed his nails and spurs. The files worked much better than the dog nail trimmers. My DH ended up holding him while I did the filing. Our rooster actually started falling alseep at one point (of course the rest of the time he looked like he wanted to hurt us).