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Can beaks get too long?

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taprock

taprock

Crowing
12 Years
Nov 1, 2010
1,999
237
286
Northern L.P. Michigan
One pullet of mine has a very long beak. I do not remember seeing it grown out so much until recently. As far as I can tell it doesn't interfere with her eating. Do you ever have to trim a beak?
 
Do you have a rock or brick she can trim her beak on? I frequently see my girls doing this. I've heard of folks here trimming beaks, I've never needed to. I wouldn't worry about it if she's eating fine.
 
I have a rooster that needs his trimmed from time to time. He never seems to have problems eating, but it does get long and more flat on the end instead of pointed. I tried to get a vet to do it the first time, but they wouldn't without crazy tests to find out why is was overgrown. I went out, after I hung up the phone, and clipped it with a pair of cat nail clippers. Just a tiny bit at a time until it looked good. I've only done it a couple of times, but it seems like each time it does better at staying the proper length and shape.

I tried putting big rocks in his run and even those beak blocks for pet birds and he wouldn't use them.
 
my waterer's are on top of bricks that have a rough side... none of them use it to trim their beaks... fail... i have two hens that have a pretty long beak... i've seen some videos on youtube of people clipping their beaks with nail clippers... i guess it's fine if you don't cut too far back... i heard they have nerves on their beaks that it can be painful if they get cut too short...
 
A bird's beak has a 'quick' just like finger and toe nails. There are nerves and blood vessels in there that you can cut into causing pain and bleeding. BUT it's really not too hard to avoid by just cutting small amounts at a time. Sometimes a beak will get overgrown and need cutting a couple of times before the bird is able to keep it worn down themself. There are a lot of ways to provide something for the birds to use for beak trimming. A cinderblock or rough concrete stepping stone works well, but must be placed in the shade for the birds to use them (yeah, imagine trying to file your nails on a hot brick). Coarse sand for a run floor is really great, that's what I have and every time they peck at the ground they are trimming their beaks.
 
I was wondering the same thing..MY EE has a really long one...hmmm..Thanks for asking!
 

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