Beak Tip Cut Off

[mkeawsh]

Just adopted three hens from the Humane Society and one that has it's beak tip cut off. Why would someone do this? Her lower beak is a smidge longer than the top so she has a problem eating layer pellets so changed all my chickens to crumbles. Didn't realize until I was watching her try to eat the pellets that she was having real difficulty doing it. So, immediately bought a 50# bag of the crumbles for all of them. She ate and ate and ate. Why would someone do that?

 

[chookin]

They do it so they dont injure each other. Because they are kept in such close quarters, they peck at each other out of boredom or stress and they dont want to risk injury, infection or death.

I agree with you that it is cruel. I adopted 5 of them about 1.5 yrs ago, although, weve just been through a terrible couple of weeks, where we lost all but one.
i never found that any of mine had trouble eating. They were great at it, caught bugs and ate any kind of food i gave them. The only thing i had to keep in mind was that they couldnt pierce hard food. So i had to cut the apples for them etc.

 

[mkeawsh]

Her top beak is dry, peeling and curling on one side and I think it is interfering with her picking up the pellets and scratch that I threw on the ground and I don't think I should do anything with it. Maybe try to trim a little off? It sticks out before it curls. The other side looks like it's starting the same thing. I guess maybe this is something that happens with her sometimes?

 

[Percheron chick]

Pictures would help but it sounds like you need to hit it with a file and take the flair off.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Pictures would help but it sounds like you need to hit it with a file and take the flair off.

X 2 - seeing what you are seeing will make it easier to judge just how severe the debeaking was. Done properly it is not as bad as many perceive it to be (note I am not saying it is right).

 

[mkeawsh]

Okay, it seems to have broken off at the curl, so it does not look bad but the other side of the beak is starting to peel. It starts at the tip. I am now buying the layer crumbles since I watched her finding softened layer pellets on the ground to peck at until they broke up, for her to eat. The others don't mind and it seems that the guineas like the crumbles even better.