broken beak end

[tunaoftheland]

Hi all. Polly, my four and a half month old EE pullet has broken the end off her beak somehow. It was bleeding earlier but now it isn't. I feel like a moron as I didn't realize that she was the one with the injury, I thought she had pecked one of the others so I checked all of them first and didn't even realize the end of her beak was gone until this morning (I noticed the blood last night.) I looked through other posts on broken beaks but most of them seemed pretty severe so I wasn't sure if it was a good comparison. Most of her beak is still there, the top part is just a little bit shorter than the bottom part now. Since it was bleeding though, I was wondering if I should maybe clean it or something? I've got a feeder she can scoop food out of if she needs too, I just don't want it to get infected, or put something on it that might make her sick since it's right on her beak. Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[horsejody]

If the bleeding has stopped, I would just keep an eye on it for now. She will probably be fine. Just make sure she has good food and clean water, and that she is eating good. If she is acting under the weather, or if the others pick at her, separate her for a while.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

She will be just fine. Just keep an eye on the bleeding and make sure she is in a relatively clean area to prevent infection. Also, a deep bowl for her food will make it easier for her to eat. She will need to be able to scoop up her food instead of grabbing it with both parts of her beak (Of course, if the piece broken off is not terrible, she will still be able to grab food with both her upper and lower jaw)

In many commercial settings, part of the upper beak is actually cut off to prevent picking. While this is not ideal for the bird, they learn to live with it. Some of her beak may even regrow a tiny bit.

 

[tunaoftheland]

Thanks for the replies. I just checked her again, and she seems able to eat from their food dish, just not off the ground. The bleeding has stopped. Normally she is head of her little flock, but she seems to have eased back a bit in her duties. It probably hurt when it happened, so hopefully in a couple days it'll be feeling better and she'll be able to take her place again. I don't think the others will bother her, but I'll keep an eye on them. I'm glad to hear I don't have to put anything on it.