Bantams beak is falling off after recovering from injury last week - what do I do?

[harvestreadyfrm]

My little rooster's top beak appears to be detaching. He had a very severe injury last week. My son accidentally stepped on his head and half of his crest was ripped from his head. I at first had no hope for him to survive, but an hour and a half after his injury he was still alive. I called my friend who frequents this forum and asked her if she had ever heard of someone sewing a crest back on. She said she had. She came and reattached his crest. He was in severe shock until about 3:00 a.m. the next morning when he managed to open one eye. By day two he was crowing and by day three walking around almost as normal. We have kept him in the house to recover and he only goes on surpervised trips outside. His crest looks great, but today it looks as if his upper beak may be detaching. I think it may have been severely bruised. We were concerned about it at first, but he immediately began eating and using it as normal. We could see what looked like a crack along one side, but it was never severely out of place. Now his beak looks like it is separating or may completely fall off. What should I do?

 

[Leslieb118]

Can you get a picture of it so we know what we're dealing with? There are ways to fix cracked beaks, with cut strips of tea bags or coffee filters and super glue (kind of like surgical steri strips), Just depends on where the injury is located and how bad it is. I think at 10 posts you can upload a picture, so you can reply or go to the new member page and introduce yourself, and try to increase your post count. Otherwise, if you have photobucket or similar, you can put a link in your reply with the picture.

 

[harvestreadyfrm]

I posted a picture of his beak as my avatar. I can't post pictures yet because I don't have ten posts. I'm not sure you can really tell what is going on from the picture. It appears that his beak is separating from a bottom layer of beak - if there is a bottom layer. If not I think he will loose his entire upper beak.

 

[justachick]

If it were me (I hope never but its easy to step on a chicken, isn't it?) I think Id glue it. If you have some of that blue paper towel stuff it is awesome for injuries as it absorbs well and is very strong. Id try gluing a small piece to the crack on the beak and let that part grow out. I'm not sure how a beak grows but I have glued a nail on that has been pulled of the nail bed. Hurts sure, but it works lasted great until the nail grew out enough to cut off and that's all that counts.

Im no expert but I have about 6 years with chickens and plenty with dogs, cats and other creatures. I was a groomer for a while and had to learn all kinds of things like this. Did you know that skin glue is even better than stitches? I know that from experience on both sides of that glue tube!
hope this helps
justachick

 

[harvestreadyfrm]

Thanks for the ideas. The top layer of his beak did fall off, but only the top layer. He now has a chicken under bite - what is left is in the shape of his original beak just smaller and very brown looking. I'm assuming what is left will stay there - lets hope. He is able to eat just fine and drink. We went through so much to get him to where he is now, I was afraid he might completely loose the top beak and not be able to eat. He is doing wonderfully. Tonight when it was time for bed he was looking all over my bathroom for a roost - he hasn't had one since he's been in the house. He finally flew up to my dryer and acted like he should just spend the night there. I instead fixed him up a roost in my bathtub with sliding glass doors. This has been his temporary home while he is recuperating from his injury. He is a very big pet and we are very excited that we were able to save him. His stitches should come out in three days. That should be interesting.

 

[Skylord]

our Bantam's top beak has came off about a week ago, we super glued it back on but it came 2 more times, in an earlier post that blue paper towel stuff seems to be a good idea, my point though is that it is normally a losing battle for some time. thanks for the tips though

 

[ten chicks]

our Bantam's top beak has came off about a week ago, we super glued it back on but it came 2 more times, in an earlier post that blue paper towel stuff seems to be a good idea, my point though is that it is normally a losing battle for some time. thanks for the tips though

When using glue to attach a broken beak,rip off a small piece of a tea bag,place glue on tea bag and then attack beak using glued tea bag as a bonding agent. This should seal the bond,leave on till beak grows out(this method works great for broken fingernails also).

 

[SarahVeronica]

Having a similar problem with one of my hens currently. How long did it take to fall off? This just transpired today. It appears that the top layer of her beak is simply coming off. She looks in pain and is not eating heartily. I know its an old post but maybe someone has advice,

 

[Belle7]

I would just bring it to the vet to insure he does ok and because he is a small chicken.

 

[sourland]

Having a similar problem with one of my hens currently. How long did it take to fall off? This just transpired today. It appears that the top layer of her beak is simply coming off. She looks in pain and is not eating heartily. I know its an old post but maybe someone has advice,

Provide moistened feed in a deep dish so that the bird is able to eat. A lot depends upon the nature of the injury. Very frequently if injured at the base the beak will fall off and never regrow - this constitutes a real problem. If only partially injured it may grow out and be OK. Good luck.