# leg spur?



## FarmerJen (Oct 18, 2012)

I have 9 laying hens of various breeds. I recently noticed though, that my Welsummer has spurs on her legs. Basically a short extra "toe" almost... but up her leg a bit, and they appear to have nails on them. My hens aren't really "pick up friendly"... so I haven't gotten a great look at it... but I KNOW she's the only one of my hens (also the only Welsummer) that has these spurs. They look like they could really do some damage! 

Is this normal for the breed (I dont see any mention of it online), or ??? I've had her for a couple years and just recently realized she has these and none of the others do... so thought I'd ask. She is definitely a girl... she was laying last year, though she hasn't resumed yet this year. Hoping she does as she has gorgeous dark eggs.


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## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

Females can develop spurs...


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## oakshirefarms (Jul 5, 2013)

Interesting observation. I don't recall having noticed them on our Welsummers, but now I am going to have to take a closer look.


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## FarmerJen (Oct 18, 2012)

I've read (since my original post) that some "dominant" hens will develop leg spurs - which would explain why I never noticed them before. They're pretty hard to miss at this point, being about 3/4" long. She is pretty dominant, though I'm not sure there's any one real alpha in my group. Several of them are pretty chippy with each other.


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