I was just wandering how to cut the chickens toe nails?

bill 

Why do you want/need to do this?

Because thay are over a inch long!!!

Bill  

Are you keeping them in cages and what breed are they as 25mm does seem a bit on the long side.

On the assumption however, that they are in a large enough pen and not cages, my advice is to make the hens scratch the earth for their food. You do this by scattering the evening feed (usually wheat) all around the pen and by not putting it in containers.

If however, your hens are wandering around the garden and have sufficient space, then their nails usually wear down and do not need cutting.

However, if you are hell bent on cutting, you must use sharp medium (not huge cutters) sized scissors. Cut diagonally (from the foot away from the bird) and no more than half the current length. Spray the foot before and after with an antiseptic and be prepared for the possibility that the hen will limp for a while afterwards.

Peter Wells:

However, if you are hell bent on cutting, you must use sharp medium (not huge cutters) sized scissors. Cut diagonally (from the foot away from the bird) and no more than half the current length. Spray the foot before and after with an antiseptic and be prepared for the possibility that the hen will limp for a while afterwards.

 This is good advice if you really must cut them, but a sharp pair of electrical sidecutters do a much easier and cleaner job than scissors.

 If they're anything like it was cutting our cats carefully with one of those padded suits they use to train police dogs to attack.

Scissors are very unsuitable for cutting the rounded nails of birds and animas, Bill. There is too much side-to-side crushing action, which causes more pain and risks causing ascending cracks and ascending infections.

 You can buy a pair of proper pet-nail clippers from a petshop or vet, which cut with a more circular action, surrounding the claw with cutting edges.

 I would suggest being more careful over where to cut, than just going for a set length. The position of the "quick" ofthe claw is very variable, depending on how hard the surfaces the claw has been exposed to. You can give a sample squeeze with the clippers at the intending cutting place to check for the presence of sensitive "quick". Alternatively, cut a little piece at a time - preferably on separate occasions to give time for the quick to retract.

 Sounds like your chickens are being deprived of oportunities for natural scratching behaviour?

 Unskilled nail cutting of birds runs serious risk of "bumblefoot" joint infection developing, which is very hard to treat.

Good luck!

 Mike