This article was co-authored by Amy Harrison, a trusted member of wikiHow's volunteer community. Amy Harrison has over five years of experience working directly with poultry. She has worked on a rural chicken farm built around marketing free-range eggs, where she managed the care for the poultry year-round. She has experience breeding chickens and quail, caring for newborn poultry, handling their health issues, and managing their dietary needs.
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Chickens do a great job of keeping their nails and beaks cut back when foraging through the garden, scratching at the dirt and walking among hard surfaces. But even chickens need a little maintenance with their nails from time-to-time. Here's how to trim a chicken's nails.
Steps
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1Purchase a pair of suitable nail clippers. You can use normal nail clippers that are used for pets such as cats or dogs[1] (these can be bought from any pet store or vet clinic). You will also need the following:
- Styptic powder, corn starch or flour to stop any potential bleeding on the quick of the nail.
- A towel to hold your chicken securely.
- Gloves to prevent scratches.
- Toilet paper or cotton balls on hand if necessary.
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2Find a partner. If this is your first time in attempting to trim the nails of your chicken and you find it difficult, get a partner to help you. Your partner can help hold the chicken while you trim its nails.Advertisement
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3Catch your desired chicken. The quickest and easiest way to catch a chicken is by backing it into a corner. Spread your arms afar and gently chase the chicken to the corner of the coop, run or yard. Slowly get closer to your chicken and use both hands to hold onto the wings and body.
- If you're having trouble catching your chicken, you might need somebody to help you, or invest in a leg hook used by farmers to grab onto the chicken's ankle.
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4Take hold of the chicken. Clutch the chicken and be sure to hold its wings down so that it doesn't try to escape by flapping its wings. Consider using a towel to keep the chicken calm when holding it.
- You can also put your chicken in a football pose, where you tuck the chicken under your arm with one hand and trim the nails with your other hand.
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5Find the nails that need to be trimmed. Whilst doing this you can also inspect the chicken's feet to see if there are any injuries or scaly mites. Optionally you can also apply any lotion to the legs to keep them prime and healthy.
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6Find the quick of the nail. The quick is the bloodline of the nail. You can find it as a darker line inside of the nail. You shouldn't cut the quick as it will hurt the chicken and bleeding can occur.
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7Trim up to the quick. Again, don't directly trim the quick as this can hurt the chicken. Instead trim just up to it, leaving enough room to stop any bleeding from occurring. After trimming the chicken's nail with nail trimmers, file it back a bit.
- If you do accidentally cut the clip, you can dip the nail in flour, cornstarch or styptic powder to stop the bleeding.
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8Prevent your chicken's nails from growing out too long. You can promote healthy exercise that trims the nails by letting your hens free-range or scratch around for food. When chickens forage through the garden you will find that they scratch on a hard surface to dig up nutrients and insects underneath.
