Got roasted by my neighbor for not trimming my chickens' nails, and now I do it every month

Last spring my neighbor Sharon, who's had chickens for 20 years, came over to look at my setup and immediately pointed out my chickens had overgrown nails. She said 'you're gonna have a bird with a broken toe one day' and walked me through how to trim them with a pair of dog nail clippers and some cornstarch for bleeding. I had no idea chickens' nails even needed trimming, I thought they'd wear down naturally on the ground. Now I check every single bird in my flock of 12 once a month with a little flashlight. It takes me maybe 20 minutes total and I haven't had a single issue since. Has anyone else gotten that kind of wake-up call from a neighbor or vet about something you totally missed?

2 comments

2 Comments

reese_taylor696d ago

Three years ago my vet cousin came over for thanksgiving and saw me washing my dogs bowls with just soap and water. She straight up told me I was basically giving them a bacteria buffet and showed me how to sanitize them with a bleach soak once a week. Its crazy the little things we just assume are fine because our pets look healthy. I bet half the people on here with backyard flocks have never checked for scaly leg mites either because they just dont think to look for something theyve never seen. Your neighbor basically saved you a vet bill and a broken chicken toe.

clairec785d ago

Right, so now I have to add "bleach soak the dog bowls" to my weekly routine. Great. Next thing you know, my vet's gonna come over and tell me I'm supposed to be flossing the cat's teeth or something. My cousin is a dental hygienist, and last time she was here she spent a solid ten minutes staring at my toothbrush like I'd just pulled it out of a sewer. Apparently you're supposed to replace them every three months and I've had mine since 2021. So yeah, the "bacteria buffet" comment hit a little too close to home for me too. At least with scaly leg mites you can kind of see them if you look close enough. My toothbrush was just sitting there being gross and I never even thought about it.