Sunday, August 2, 2009

My hens nails are 2long & need 2 be clipped, does anyone know how or any website that showsme how 2 do so?


Answers:
having rescued many chickens in poor shape some who have lived litterally on wire their whole lives i have had plenty of experience on this subject,it is easy to clip their nails you use the same type of nail clippers that you would use on your pet dog,it is hard to judge how short to cut them as it is very hard to see where the nail ends and the blood begins,if they are starting to curl around a good rule of thumb is to cut where the nail is beginning to curl around,they may still be a little longish but at least it is more comfortable for the poor chicken
Short lengths of the nails can be trimmed without causing pain or bleeding for the bird. The sharp tips of nails can be snipped off with nail clippers and then a very rough emery board can be used to smooth out the nails.
Alternatively, a hobbyist drill can be used with a cone-shaped stone adapter to file and shape the nails.
A styptic powder such as "Kwik-Stop" can be used to stop any bleeding that may occur.
I dont think clipping is a really good idea cos you cant see where the blood veins end in chickens nails.

You could try filing them down a bit of they will let you, or why dont you let them do it themselves?
If you have a concrete or a corse surface put some seed there and let them scratch at it, that way they will do it themselves.

I think if you try to pin them down they might scratch you.
Chickens need their claws to defend themselves. It sounds as though you have them in cages so they can't scratch the ground as normal chickens should. Even when caged, chickens are roosting birds - they like to sit on a perch. When you provide a perch in the cage, the perch will give them the means to groom themselves and scratch the nails to the proper length all by themselves.

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