SHOULD I TRIM HER BEAK?? **PICS**

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tortega18

tortega18

Chirping
Feb 21, 2016
137
13
58
Florida
Hi guys
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I'm trying to figure out why my black star prefers to ONLY eat soft mushy food and has NO interest in eating her hard dry pellet food.
So i took a picture of her beak. Can this be causing something? I know its not CRAZY long but i'm running out of ideas :(
& i will be working crazy hours soon and cant keep going out there to feed soft food. any suggestions?

 
My guess is she just prefers the soft food. From what I can see in the pic her beak is not out of limits so being able to eat the hard food isn't the issue. Sounds like she just has a preference. Make sure you have some grit available for her along with the hard food. Try weaning her off the soft stuff. Give her more access to pellets and less opportunities for the soft stuff and see what happens.

Good luck.
 
Puddin Fluff said:
My guess is she just prefers the soft food.  From what I can see in the pic her beak is not out of limits so being able to eat the hard food isn't the issue.  Sounds like she just has a preference.  Make sure you have some grit available for her along with the hard food.  Try weaning her off the soft stuff.  Give her more access to pellets and less opportunities for the soft stuff and see what happens.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

Agreed.
I had a hen who had her beak grow really long and split apart so it looked like rabbit teeth. I trimmed it with nail clippers, but i wouldn't worry about your hen. She seems to have a normal length beak. :)
 
thanks everyone

Just so frustrating because i never see her eat :/
i see her graze every now and then when im out there but never her pellets :(

Maybe fermented feed is in my future? i just dont want to attract bugs and make things more complicated since i work hospital hours
 
Chickens are very complex and have their own personalities (aka bratty
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) so there are a few tactics you can try:

You can try mixing types of feed or throwing pellets into the grass when she forages,
You can mix the soft feed she likes with pellets to force her to eat some pellets,
If you really want her on pellets you can just hold back the soft feed until she learns to eat the pellets, or just feed her her soft food with some suppliments if needed. Chickens are foragers and should get along just fine if she gets enough vegetation/calcium/protein. :)

My chickens are somehow the opposite: they have the will to free-range but come begging for pellets
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You could put a good sized rock or landscaping paver in the coop or run and let her do her own beak maintenance :)

I do fermented feed. I feed my flocks twice a day, as much as they'll eat in about 15-20 minutes (takes some trial and error to work out the proper amount). They finish it all up so nothings left over to attract bugs or rodents. However, if you cut out her moist feed, she'll eventually get over herself and eat the dry pellets when she gets hungry. Good luck!
 

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