I have read in many posts that when the rooster is making the hens bareback his toenails being trimmed will help the situation...I have one rooster and 16 hens and 10 of them are very red. I grabbed Ambush when he tried to get me yesterday and took him to the barn to trim his nails. I clipped one and it started bleeding!

He and I don't get along that well anyway and now there may be no hope for our relationship! I didn't cut very much off at all, less than 1/4 of an inch. Would you suggest isolating him? I don't want him to die from blood loss over a trimming! Thanks for your advice in advance.

-- Doreen Davenport (livinginskin@yahoo.com), May 27, 2000

Answers

Doreen, you can try clipping his toes again, but you'll most likely get more bleeding. Check at a pet store for a blood stop powder to pack in the ends when the bleeding starts. In a pinch, use flour. His nails will grow back, and some people believe that it won't do any good anyway since you generally end up with ragged edges.

If you're really having a problem with him, you'll probably do better to get another rooster. Gotta give him points for effort. Gerbil

-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@hotmail.com), May 27, 2000.

Doreen powered alum will stop bleedeing! Use to use it in Barber shops when they nicked someone! My Elmer, old, bantam, rooster has long spurs! And he has started trying to flog me, when I turn my back on him! We had a real good understanding yesterday!!! Today, when he started at me--I told him, it did not matter I was a vegetatain--he would go in a pot if he tried that again!!!! Sonda in Ks.

-- Sonda (sgbruce@birch.net), May 27, 2000.

I think I will just go ahead and upset the rascal by putting him in confinement. The girls will moon over him and he will be frustrated, but I really don't want to kill him as I am a vegetarian, too. I can't kill anything but bugs without a crises of conscience.He was one of those 10% sexing errors in my very first order of chickens. At first I thought I had a very confused hen! But he turned out to be pretty handsome. Thanks for the advice!

-- Doreen (lvinginskin@yahoo.com), May 28, 2000.

Doreen, I also have 16 hens. I had 2 roosters, a buff orphington and a Rhode Island Red. I kept noticing the bare places on the hens backs. I had to go into Houston one day, (1 1/2 hours away and not my favorite thing to do) and I took the guys in and traded them for a sack of laying mesh at a feed store. The hens aren't harassed all the time now and seem more content. I thought I'd done a good thing but, with no roosters, egg production dropped from 12-15 to 8-10 each day. I don't know if the absence of roosters caused the drop in egg production or if it is the heat. It's really hot here right now. I have some really neat OEBBGS that are about 1/4 the size of the hens. I put one of the little roosters in with the big hens to see what happened. He's too little to mate with them but gives them some male companionship. Egg production didn't go back up. I'm not sure what to think. Eagle _

-- eagle (eagle@alpha1.net), May 29, 2000.

Instead of clipping his nails, have you thought of using a dremmel tool? It files clean and you can take your time without slips.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), May 31, 2000.