Hmmm.....let me try to explain about the feet and beak.
Their toenails/claws were about 3/4 of an inch long on the front claws, and maybe 1/4 of an inch or slightly more on the single back claw. The front ones you could see the pink quick inside, and then you could see the long front part ahead of it. Most of their claws were actually twisted, and some were beginning to twist. I used to volunteer in an animal shelter and have seen rabbits come in with nails like that. It is when they have never had anything to wear them down, so they just grow and grow. The ends of some of the chicken claws were, in my opinion, probably making it difficult for them to keep their balance on a flat surface (as opposed to a perch). They stuck out at funny angles when they walked. I should have taken photos. I was able to cut off at least 1/4 inch from every nail without any bleeding. Some a bit more. Their nails are light coloured so it's really easy to see the quick.
Two beaks looked completely normal. The other hen's beak, in the front, had a long, overgrown part. It was about 1/2 inch long stretching down from where the "normal" tip of the beak would be. It sort of made her look like a bird of prey! It was curved in the front. You could see through the material - it was just like very thin fingernail. I think again she was not on a feed that allowed her to wear it down? It did not follow the normal shape of the beak. The other hen had a completely normal beak, so I could see where it should be. I think if it was left alone, it would begin to interfere with her eating. I just used the nail clipper to clip back to the usual edge area. Like I said, you could see through the material and it was clear there was no blood supply there. Again, at the shelter, we would sometimes have budgies or parrots come in whose beaks were overgrown. Kind of sad. Easy problem to fix, but if not fixed, sometimes they starve.
TF - I think if you had seen this bird's beak, you would have trimmed it. It was definitely not at all normal. One of the official "chicken people" at the show (who was showing birds) even commented (when I was eyeing the birds) that they were nice birds but their nails were very overgrown and that the one's beak needed trimming, although I had already determined that for myself. It was very obvious that it was not right.
When the guy showed up for me to pay, he was extremely elderly and seemed a little bit unsure of himself. I wonder if he is maybe not able to care for his birds properly any more?
Claire
