Mrs_B Posted August 8, 2020 Share Posted August 8, 2020 Question about protecting hens against spurs! I have two flocks, the older flock including the Hamburgh has pretty big spurs (she is a hen). I tried an intro and the Hamburgh used her spurs against another hen. This is new territory to me I have done tons of intros in the past, but my hens haven't had spurs before! They're all separated again now, but of course I don't want injury to hens in the future - so question is, is there anything anyone recommends to protect against spurs please? Covers etc? Thank you (I haven't posted in years, good to be back!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia W Posted August 8, 2020 Share Posted August 8, 2020 Hi Mrs B Welcome back! No idea about your question though. I have had a Cockerel with lethal spurs. My husband still bears the scar! He didn’t use them with the girls though. Just other males.... maybe someone else will know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat tails Posted August 9, 2020 Share Posted August 9, 2020 Can’t you just clip them? Careful that you don’t hot the live bit though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beantree Posted August 9, 2020 Share Posted August 9, 2020 Either carefully trim the spurs, or make the introduction more gradual. They are fighting for position and protecting their ground so the run size should increase when new hens are introduced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat tails Posted August 9, 2020 Share Posted August 9, 2020 Hit... hit the live bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs_B Posted August 11, 2020 Author Share Posted August 11, 2020 On 8/9/2020 at 6:35 AM, Beantree said: Either carefully trim the spurs, or make the introduction more gradual. They are fighting for position and protecting their ground so the run size should increase when new hens are introduced. Thanks, everyone! I wasn't 100% sure you could even trim spurs - so this is something I shall look at! Thankfully both groups are in their own separate areas so are getting used to each other through a partition and going fine so far, I definitely find gradual is best - fingers crossed! Will intro properly at some point, no rush 😀 On 8/8/2020 at 10:08 PM, Patricia W said: Hi Mrs B Welcome back! No idea about your question though. I have had a Cockerel with lethal spurs. My husband still bears the scar! He didn’t use them with the girls though. Just other males.... maybe someone else will know. Thank you! OUCH! I can only imagine how much that must have hurt! 😬 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beantree Posted August 12, 2020 Share Posted August 12, 2020 We trim spurs using a junior hacksaw blade and a file; definitely a job for two people. The objective usually is just to remove the point, but we have had cases where cockerels developed such long spurs they couldn't walk properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...