When Dirty Wilson decided he was going to get ugly, and attacked my little Ty putting a nice hole in his arm, it was time to put him in his place by trimming his spurs.
The hardest part of trimming rooster spurs is catching the rooster. Once you’ve got him it’s a very simple process. (Pssst, by the way, kids are wonderful at catching chickens!)
The first time we trimmed rooster spurs, we used a pair of goat hoof trimmers ’cause that was the sharpest thing we had. A good pair of dog nail clippers would work just as well. Just make sure that whatever you use is clean so as to avoid causing an infection.
If you cut too much, it will bleed a little, so you might want to keep flour or some blood stop powder nearby. Although, we didn’t put anything on the nail after it bled a little, and it was fine.
Hold the rooster firmly, so that he can’t get away or kick, and clip the spurs to a blunt tip, leaving about a quarter of the spur intact. The spur does grow back, so it’s only a temporary fix, but at least my kids don’t have to be afraid of being punctured every time they go out to play!
Have you had to trim rooster spurs? Any tips you wanna share?
A city girl learning to homestead on an acre of land in the country. Wife and homeschooling mother of four. Enjoying life, and everything that has to do with self sufficient living.
We did this to one of my roosters one time and it bled so bad. I felt sorry for it, poor thing!
We always waited until they had roosted for the night. Then just lifted them off the roost and put them back. Silly chickens. BUT we also had a chicken pen.
Handy info to have! I’m bookmarking this post for future reference. Thanks! 😀