Beak Deformity?

[johnny9580]

I got a couple of chicks from Cackle Hatchery three weeks ago and noticed something strange today. All of the sumatra chicks I have (five) have part of their beak missing. It couldn't be because of the quality of the diet because all other 11 chicks are doing very well with the medicated chick food. Here is a picture of one of them below. All of the others are like this but this one definetly has the worst. What do you think it might be?

 

[RhodeIslandRedFan]

some hatcheries debeak their chicks before they are sold. This means trimming the tip of the beak to prevent them from pecking each other. It's hard to tell from your picture but perhaps this is what it may be, since it is affecting all of the same breed. Do you know if they might have been debeaked? You can search this site to find pictures of debeaked birds for comparison.

 

[johnny9580]

They are definitely not debeaked. The one that is the best off only has a very small part of it's beak missing. The other three are in the middle. Would calcium help any in a situation like this?

 

[RhodeIslandRedFan]

I have no other ideas, sorry... here is a link with information on beak deformities, but I don't see anything here that looks anything like your chickens. Take a look and see http://www.avianweb.com/beakdeformities.html#dry Hopefully someone else will come along soon who may have more information. Good luck to you - I hope you find an answer soon

 

[Squishypuff]

That is odd. It reminds me of how a horses hoof will grow oddly like that after trauma to the hoof. That's not helpful, but just an observation. Seems like extra calcium might be useful. In horses, biotin is what you'd supplement for stronger, better growth to grow out the deformity, but I have no clue if you can give birds biotin supplements. Good luck, and I hope you get an answer that will help.

 

[RhodeIslandRedFan]

Here is a link to another active thread on this site. See if this is at all helpful https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=525845

 

[johnny9580]

Thank you for your responses. I guess I will have to wait and see what happens with feeding them extra calcium. Hopefully it doesn't turn out to be something serious.

 

[RhodeIslandRedFan]

Please keep us posted, and good luck to you!