Adopted hen with clipped beak

[CountryGirlintheCity]

Hi - I just adopted a chicken from the Humane Society who has a clipped beak. My other chickens have full, natural beaks. I am wondering if my new hen needs a special diet or other considerations as I have no experience with this situation and my local Humane Society didn't either. They were just really happy to find her a home. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[Clairenh]

Do you have a picture? One of the pullets we got has an underbite from what we believe was beak clipping. See this thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/will-underbite-grow-out.1288325/#post-20875704

 

[Chickassan]

Just make sure she's eating. If she has trouble you might need a deeper food dish for her. You can moisten her food to make it easier too.

 

[sumi]

Just make sure she's eating. If she has trouble you might need a deeper food dish for her. You can moisten her food to make it easier too.

This ^^ I had some hens years ago that were destined for battery cages and had severely trimmed beaks. Some of them struggled to eat as a result, but I found moistening their feed and putting it in dishes for them helped a lot.

 

[CountryGirlintheCity]

Do you have a picture? One of the pullets we got has an underbite from what we believe was beak clipping. See this thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/will-underbite-grow-out.1288325/#post-20875704

I'll post a photo tomorrow. Thanks for this link.

 

[CountryGirlintheCity]

Just make sure she's eating. If she has trouble you might need a deeper food dish for her. You can moisten her food to make it easier too.

I'll try the moist food - thats a great idea.

 

[CountryGirlintheCity]

Also - she is very thin but since I do not know her history I' m not sure this is from the beak clipping or from being a stray. Besides softening her food, should I feed something else to help her up on a little weight? I'll post photos tomorrow.

 

[Chickassan]

I'd just go with moistening her food right now, you could add a little calf manna moistened into the mix if you wanted. That is about it since you don't know much about her. The manna is good stuff though,put maybe a teaspoon into her food and mix it. It smells good too if you like licorice.

Also - she is very thin but since I do not know her history I' m not sure this is from the beak clipping or from being a stray. Besides softening her food, should I feed something else to help her up on a little weight? I'll post photos tomorrow.

 

[aart]

calf manna

Calf Manna is a brand name?
Which product do you recommend?

Could just get some Poultry Nutri Drench.

 

[Chickassan]

It is Manna Pro calf manna. I like it better than nutri drench when a bird is underweight.https://www.mannapro.com/products/calf-manna

Calf Manna is a brand name?
Which product do you recommend?

Could just get some Poultry Nutri Drench.