Bad chicken behavior

[happyhens1972]

Angel is right, they don't all grow back but I have never had one that didn't, at the very least, vastly improve, became less sensitive and less problematic. In honesty, I've only had two that didn't end up, eventually, with a completely normal beak. Those two ended up with about half as much again as what they had when they joined me. It does, however, take a long time and depends on how healthy they are and how well they respond in their new environment. Don't expect anything too much for at least six to nine months as far as new beak goes but they seemed to de-sensitise in three to four x

 

[hiltopsassafras]

Well, Thanks you for letting me know Michelle. I haven't put it completely out of my mind that they may not grow back. The birds are a year old or so, their beaks are cut back right in front of the nasal passage. Its pretty far back.
My questions will be if the beaks don't grow back can they live off the crumbles and produce eggs or am I gonna have to supplement them with mash and more?
thanks and bubble burst, now ready for some answers.
Sassy

 

[appps]

I have one that was born with a weird beak that we have to keep trimmed to help her drink (nothing as bad as yours!! Poor things!) and I have observed her eating a lot and it seems the bigger the food the harder it is for her to eat. She takes three or four tries to get a piece of scratch mix down and given a choice of pellets, crumble or mash she will go to the finer mash every time.

Which makes me wonder if with their trimmed beaks yours are able to get enough feed in trying to eat pellets and scratch. Chickens are one of the few birds that can suck apparently and so it could be something as simple as sucking up egg is a lot easier for them than trying to eat the other feed. If they are looking in bad condition they could quite simply be very hungry so you cant really blame them for eating what they can. First thing I would do is buy a bag of good quality layer mash to see if they eat that in preference to the other feed you are giving them now and hopefully pick up a bit more condition.

That said once they get a taste for eggs its a big problem to fix. First thing you need to do is work out how many and who is doing it and then there are lots if threads on here about dealing with it.

Good luck!!

 

[angel8035]

Well, Thanks you for letting me know Michelle. I haven't put it completely out of my mind that they may not grow back. The birds are a year old or so, their beaks are cut back right in front of the nasal passage. Its pretty far back. My questions will be if the beaks don't grow back can they live off the crumbles and produce eggs or am I gonna have to supplement them with mash and more? thanks and bubble burst, now ready for some answers. Sassy

My hens are debeaked rescue girls and lay a nice brown egg almost every day. I just feed them pellets/crumbles mixed together and yogurt sometimes as a treat

 

[poodlechicks]

Thanks poodlechickens...I love poodles by the way! I have mama sitting in the nest box and they are ajoining boxes so no can do for now. Good thought though! I have the 3 sweet bad girls isolated in a large run. They can come out and try again next week after the new babies are born. The mama sitting is an O Shamo japanese fighting bird....ALL of them will leave her and her babies alone!

I am so thankful for the answer I have recieved here. I really did not know what to do with them! They will have a good productive life out here for sure now...thanks to everyone

Sassy and the bad girls!

You're welcome! I could talk about poodles all day. But don't worry, I won't.

They are so versatile and wicked smart!
Can you post a picture of your O Shamo hen? I've never seen one of those. Good luck with your new babies and bad girls!

 

[lazy gardener]

Want to weigh in with a question re: de-beaked birds. When you feed them mash, are you wetting it down to turn it into a slurry? That would be easer for them to eat than the dry stuff. Also, how bout turning that slurry mash into fermented feed? An other thought for getting increased nutrition into them would be to give them a blend of multi-flock grower (which is about 26% protein) mixed with layer mash. I wish you the best of luck with your de-beaked birds, and agree that it is a barbaric practice that should be outlawed. So much of our meat and egg production industry is based on cruel practices that should never be allowed, and if the average consumer actually saw what went on on these farms, perhaps the laws would change.

 

[hiltopsassafras]

Hi poodlechic, I cant upload right now..my camera is giving me fits. Look on the site, it has pics.

Yes on the slury, not sure how to ferment that. The worst of the worst is actually the egg eating. They will lay an egg and then its gone. Really at breaking point with this. They are seperated for now.
Sassy

 

[poodlechicks]

Hi Sassy,

I'll look into the site to find a pic. I am curious about this breed. I got my first egg yesterday! Yay!

Hopefully, separating the girls will take their mind off of eating eggs. Seems to be a tough behavior to break.