Beak Damage?

[tandykins]

My 28 week old RIR x NH looked this morning as though her beak was darker than normal. Upon further inspection it looked a little swollen, almost bruised and the end looks as though it was damaged by something. There was the tiniest tip of blood inside the cracked looking area.

So far it doesn't seem to phase her, she's eating and drinking normally.

I'm debating how I should treat it or whether I should leave it alone. Right now I'm guessing that she hurt her beak but I wanted to post a picture here in case I'm completely wrong - to err on the side of caution.

 

[sunflour]

This looks more severe than what mine have experienced. I am answering in hopes your post will move up and maybe get an experienced answer.

Hope she is still doing ok, eating, drinking. And acting normal.

I do know if the break is only on the keratin part, it will heal.. If it involves the underlying bone it may not. But if she can eat and drink the I would think she will be OK either way. Wishing her a recovery.

 

[tandykins]

This looks more severe than what mine have experienced. I am answering in hopes your post will move up and maybe get an experienced answer.

Hope she is still doing ok, eating, drinking. And acting normal.

I do know if the break is only on the keratin part, it will heal.. If it involves the underlying bone it may not. But if she can eat and drink the I would think she will be OK either way. Wishing her a recovery.

Thank you! I as feeling a little discouraged at the complete lack of response and wasn't sure if I should try to bump it myself.

Mira is doing well so far. Her beak is still quite dark but she frankly doesn't seem to be bothered by it at all. I've just been keeping an eye on her to see if she starts behaving poorly but she was right in there with the hens for mealworm time today. XD

I had one day-old chick with a hole in her beak so I know that they do heal. The hole healed up completely and she's now 11 weeks old and perfectly healthy. I was more concerned about what looked like so much swelling and bruising and how likely it was that it could develop into an infection.

 

[sunflour]

I have had only one beak break, and frankly internet searches scared me..I do think most heal if we leave them alone. From what I could find, a real break in the bone won't heal and no one really knows what to do about those. They're not as likely to get infected like a bumble foot or skin injury. It's like us breaking a fingernail. Personally I would just watch and wait and watch it grow back, which it likely will. And I am sure you are inspecting her daily.

I am still a novice on the forums, but watch the unanswered…many like yours fall to the bottom fast and out of sight if no one answers. I saw your post earlier and hoped those with loads of experience would respond but when they didn't I felt I may try to help.

 

[payton360]

I'm glad this info is here. My chick started out with what looked like a worn place on top of her beak. Now it looks cracked and worn through. I thought maybe the plastic food dish was hitting the top of her beak, but why didn't this happen to the rest of the...anyway I'm watching it to see what happens. She's eating and drinking

 

[RedWolfTX]

Hey Tandy - Did your bird ever recover?

I found one of my pullets (boss hen!) with beak damage yesterday evening. I bet she hurt it because I put in a seed block in a cage feeder - perhaps she hit the metal cage? That item came right out today!

Caught her, dabbed some peroxide and antibiotic spray on her beak with some q-tips.