A long twisted bottom beak, should it be clipped

[suebeedoo]

Hi there, I just got 2 chickens, my first, love them to bits. My concern is that the bottom beaks on them are very long and twisted slightly. They are about 8 months old. Is this going to be a problem for them or should I see about getting them cut back in line with the top beak? I have had them only for 4 days, they are eating ok and have produced 5 eggs much to my delight. My avatar is Bob so you can see her beak... Any thoughts anyone.

 

[Judy]

At 8 months, if they seem healthy and not underweight, I personally wouldn't do anything with them. Maybe you could watch them eat and see if they seem to be having a lot of trouble getting food. If they are not underweight, you won't feel a prominent, sharp keel or breast bone.

It's not uncommon for chickens to have what is called crossbeak, which often does require trimming, and there are plenty of threads on here about how people do this -- if you feel you really need to do some trimming. It's hard or impossible to know whether or how much pain this causes them, though.