Naturally, birds will wear their claws down by walking along rough surfaces and foraging for food. However, companion pigeons live indoors on surfaces softer than would naturally be found in the wild, so they may often require nail trims.
Trimming nails may not be necessary for every bird—some can still maintain their nail length themselves, especially when provided with rough surfaces—but part of a routine health check should be assessing nail length to see if a trim is required.
Nails of normal length should be hovering above the surface when a pigeon is standing; if the nails are touching the surface, slightly raising the claw above the ground, a trim is quite likely needed.
<aside> 🐦 Providing the pigeon with bricks, pumice perches, and rocks can greatly help reduce the need to trim nails! As pigeons were domesticated from the rock dove, which nested in rocky cliffs, pigeons tend to love bricks and rocks. Placing bricks in strategic places where the bird frequently walks can encourage natural nail wear and health, reducing the required frequency for trims.
</aside>
How to determine if the nails are overdue for a trim.
If a nail trim is required, human nail clippers, clippers for small pets (rats and mice), or cat nail clippers can be used to safely trim pigeon claws. It is recommended to use pet or cat clippers over human nail clippers, as human clippers can result in splits, whereas pet clippers are designed to reduce this occurrence.
To trim a nail, first locate where the quick is. The quick is the living blood vessel within the nail and thus, if hit, it will bleed a decent amount and cause your bird pain. The quick is readily spotted in light colored claws—it is the pink strip—however it is often unable to be seen in dark or black claws. If this is the case, simply clip the smallest amount off the end of the nail bit by bit and check the nail after each snip. When unsure, it is better to go gradually and hit the very end of the quick—which won’t bleed much—rather than taking off a big chunk of nail at once and cutting straight through the quick, which will bleed lots.
Cutting the nail should be done very carefully and at an angle that will avoid cutting the quick (blood vessel).
<aside> 🩹 If a quick is hit, use styptic powder (Kwik Stop) or cornstarch on the wound and apply pressure. This can be done by either pouring the product directly onto the nail or by pouring it onto a cloth and then holding the cloth on the nail with pressure. This should assist with clotting, and once bleeding stops the bird should be closely monitored.
</aside>
After trimming off the end of the nail with clippers, a nail file or an emery board can be used to blunt the nail if desired or shorten the nail further when unsure of the quick’s placement.