Upper beak came off cockerel (had bad dry pox). Solutions? Should we put down?!?

This cockerel had dry pox over his upper beak, and when the scabs fell off, so did his upper beak! I think his upper beak 'died' a while ago but just now came off (it stayed small as his head and body grew). I think part of his nasal cavity is open on one side, too

I had noticed his lower was growing longer than his scabbed over upper beak and actually trimmed it a week and a half ago so that's why it's blunt on the end, but you can see it's really long now. (I was out of town for a week and they were in DH's care).

What should I do? Should we put him down? Is an 'epoxy' beak a realistic solution and if so, what kind do you use and how do you do it? I haven't seen him eat since the scabs came off with his upper beak. I put neosporin and blue-kote over the little part that bled. He's got start & grow crumble for feed. He's inside with warmth with a couple of younger chicks.












Here he is with a little blue-kote.









I've got another even littler one which I think will have the same problem (he has even worse pox scabs).






I feel so terrible. We had about 5 broodies happily sitting on eggs then got hit with 5 straight weeks of rain/85 degree temperatures in September in SE Georgia. The mosquitos were absolutely horrible and no amount of cleaning or plug-in fans could keep them off the chicks or mamas. We brought all of the ones inside that we could, and thankfully some had minor cases of dry pox. Others with bad cases (but not over the top beak) have cleared up with TLC thankfully.

These 2 little guys had it the worst, and apparently the worst places. The scabs/damage are giving them crossbeaks, too as you can see.

I'm thinking we probably should put these two down, unless anyone has any good solutions.

Is the lower beak trimmed all the way back to the quick? If not I would try to do that, and then provide a deep dish of moistened feed. It appears that there is enough beak remaining that he should be able to eat.

I

sourland said:

Is the lower beak trimmed all the way back to the quick? If not I would try to do that, and then provide a deep dish of moistened feed. It appears that there is enough beak remaining that he should be able to eat.

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Thank you for your response!

I think the quick might have grown out further on his lower beak than it should have, but I will check and trim as much as I can. If I progressively trim it back, will the quick recede (so that his lower beak can be closer in length to what is left of his upper)?

I will put out some moistened feed and see if he'll try it.

Much like a dog's toenail, you can 'push' the quick gradually back. Understand that this may turn into a 'lifetime' project.

sourland said:

Much like a dog's toenail, you can 'push' the quick gradually back. Understand that this may turn into a 'lifetime' project.

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I will try trimming tomorrow.

I've seen him try to eat (both the crumble and the mash) and it looks like he's getting a little. But I haven't really seen him chow down (he's nervous when I'm around, understandably).

How is your bird doing?

sourland said:

How is your bird doing?

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Sourland, thank you for your suggestions and for checking on him!

He's eating/drinking on his own and seems to be holding steady health wise - loves the soft food but also seems to be able to eat the crumble as-is. I think the upper portion of his beak might have grown the tiniest bit, but it's also kind of curving upward in a strange way (think avocet). I was worried about clipping too much of his lower beak off at a time, so I've been sanding it down a little each night. DH calls it "face grinding" time....LOL.

Of all things, I'm using a batter operated pedicure tool, which seems to be about perfect for the job (and leaves it very smooth) . He doesn't actually seem to mind it much. I'm hoping that this might not have to be something that has to be done 'for life' if his upper beak is able to grow more again to keep the lower worn down (don't know how likely this is) but we'll see how it goes.

He's a very sweet little guy.

Good idea on using the 'grinding' tool. Good update - I cull when necessary, but anything with the will to live gets a chance to make it here.

sourland said:

Good idea on using the 'grinding' tool. Good update - I cull when necessary, but anything with the will to live gets a chance to make it here.

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That's our philosophy too, of course once they get names it gets harder for us to make that call (although we do when necessary). 'Beaker,' for instance...