Split Lower Beak

[Garden Peas]

My TT (lame) male bird just came up to me in the pen while I was sitting there, and I noticed his lower beak is split lengthwise. It doesn't extend as far as his tongue, and so far he is eating and drinking okay. It looks as though it may have been there for awhile. I'm worried if it gets worse it could prevent him from eating. It doesn't look broken or injured -- maybe it split from the dryness or some imperfection in how the top beak is hitting it? It's slightly off-center. I don't know if he'll let me take a photo of it.

Has anyone ever had to treat this?

 

[new 2 pfowl]

 

[DylansMom]

Wish I had been smart enough to even realize the top beak needed trimming

Now I have what seems like a pretty serious problem. This is one of my original feral egg boys, so I'm pretty attached to him. Hopefully the vet can help with the lower beak issue. After studying them more this afternoon, I think the other male could use a little trimming too. @DylansMom , you wouldn't happen to have any before & after photos, would you? I'm scared to do this incorrectly

Thanks so much for your help!

I don't have any before & after shots, but I have a before and I drew a line across the beak where I would trim. Maybe this will help? Sometimes I have to trim this guy's twice a year.

 

[Garden Peas]

We came home and checked to see who else's beak needed trimming. Here's before and after photos of Big Blue:

From the side, you can see it is a little overshot...



From in front, you can see it is a bit "U" shaped and ragged looking.



After trimming and smoothing:



This hen roots in the dirt all the time. Her beak was fine:



We also all got treated for lice as long as we were well and truly caught -- even the babies

One pair of blue jeans (no more stretchy soft denim for pea wrestling), one set of nail clippers and one emery board ... much cheaper than one vet bill

(even if you throw in the ivomec & Sevin dust!) One slightly more educated pea owner -- worth every penny of the vet bill.

 

[Garden Peas]

Here's another photo of the split beak. In the second copy of it, I tried to trace along the edge of the split so you could see it. Sadly, my mouse is acting up and I'm out of batteries for it, so it's not a great drawing...





So today, we went on a trip to the avian vet, woohoo!



As gnarly as the beak split looks, it turns out he will be okay. The vet (who was amazing) said that although the bird knocked a chunk out -- which is why it looks so bad -- the beak wasn't all that overgrown, and will grow back out normally as long as it is trimmed down. He also said that it doesn't reach far enough along the lower beak to interfere with drinking.

He trimmed both the top beak and the lower beak. After he cut the beak with the nail clippers, he smoothed up the edges with a big emery board. He wants me to keep trimming both beaks until the lower beak grows out.

 

[Garden Peas]

Photos of split beak:









Kind of amazing he let me photograph it -- he wasn't sure he wanted pictures taken. It looks to me as though the upper beak is overgrown and needs to be trimmed, and that has caused improper wear on the lower beak. Argghhh

 

[Peafowlssssssss]

Don't worry he will always be able to eat, i used to have a cameo male which had a beak like a falcon beak and it was eating normally.

 

[Dany12]

Parrot beak .... not really beautiful !



Here the culprit ???

 

[Garden Peas]

My concern is that the lower beak is actually split, and it appears the top beak is what caused it. It's hard to see in the photos, but if you open and enlarge them, you can barely see the split above where I put the arrow. If the split gets any longer, I don't think he will be able to drink water. If the top beak doesn't get trimmed back correctly, it is just going to get worse. There is a narrow V in the lower beak which narrows more into the split. The split and V go all the way through the lower beak, it's not just a surface crack. It is running nearly down the axis of the beak, so lengthwise, not crosswise.

This is an obvious health issue. I'm trying to get him into an avian vet. In the meantime, has anyone dealt with such a thing (lower beak split/cracked) in a pea, and what advice do you have for fixing it?

 

[DylansMom]

My concern is that the lower beak is actually split, and it appears the top beak is what caused it. It's hard to see in the photos, but if you open and enlarge them, you can barely see the split above where I put the arrow. If the split gets any longer, I don't think he will be able to drink water. If the top beak doesn't get trimmed back correctly, it is just going to get worse. There is a narrow V in the lower beak which narrows more into the split. The split and V go all the way through the lower beak, it's not just a surface crack. It is running nearly down the axis of the beak, so lengthwise, not crosswise.

This is an obvious health issue. I'm trying to get him into an avian vet. In the meantime, has anyone dealt with such a thing (lower beak split/cracked) in a pea, and what advice do you have for fixing it?

I've not dealt with a split beak, but I trim top beaks all the time. It is very easy with a toenail clipper, just clip halfway across from one side and then come in from the other side and clip halfway across. Up close you can see where it thins and there are no longer blood vessels. Like dog and cat toenails, you can tell where not to cut.