Beak Injury, Pooped On, Scared/Traumatized

[lrach73]

My ameracauna girl has had a rough go. She had a rooster that was super mean to her (kept her from eating), and she used to face the corner because of his abuse. He is gone (has been for a few weeks).

This morning, she came out of the coop happy as a lark, but our other rooster jumped on her. She freaked out and hurt her beak in the process. When I found her, she was again in the corner, with her beak slightly open (not really panting, more like "holy crap, this hurts") and bleeding.

To add insult to injury, someone pooped on her.

When the other girls came out, they picked on her. The rooster is locked in the coop. She's currently up on one of the roosts we keep outside, I assume to stay away from the others.

I don't know what to do for her. I tried gently cleaning the beak, but that was unpopular. I'm afraid to stress her any more. The beak doesn't have any obvious breaks, it almost looks like a layer got scraped off. It doesn't appear to be actively bleeding, but there a fair amount of dried blood.

What do I do for her? Do I go ahead and wash her off? Separate her (not sure how I would do that, I don't have a dog crate)? Just leave her be and keep checking on her? I feel so awful that she's had such a rough time. She's smaller than the others due to the abuse from rooster #1, but she had really become part of the flock the last 10 days or so. I'm really worried about her.

 

[micstrachan]

Can you post a photo? It’s possible that the dry blood came from her comb. Are there any scabs or nick marks on her come? If she’s getting picked on, I would put her in a crate in the run with the flock, so she is safe but doesn’t lose her spot in the pecking order even if it’s the lowest spot.

 

[lrach73]

I don't have a crate. Her comb looks fine (I checked that over). It's the bottom 1/3 of her beak. I'll see if I can get a picture.

 

[MilesFluffybutt]

Is she a new member of the flock? Did you immobilize her when you tried to clean her beak? I wrap my birds in an old pillow case or towel. If you can keep their wings from flapping, they're usually pretty submissive.

Yes, pictures would help. If she broke her beak, it will bleed - a lot and when bumped. Like a dog's toenail, it has a quick, but it will grow back.

 

[lrach73]

No, she's been part of the flock since I first got her. One of the girls seemed to be trying to help clean her off, but the others were picking on her (not all the time, but enough). They're mostly leaving her alone now that she's gone up on one of the sticks. She is probably the lowest in the pecking order already.

Here are pictures.

Pic 1 (front) shows most of the injury area
Pic 2 (front 1) shows straight on
Pic 3 (other side) shows the side opposite the main injury area. This side doesn't seem as bad.
Pic 4 (poop) the poop is on her better side, up near her neck. It is definitely poop, not blood.

Do I try to clean her beak off, or leave it be? What about the poop?

I could put her in the coop, but the other girls wouldn't see her and she wouldn't see them. Plus they'll be back in there tonight.

 

[MilesFluffybutt]

Thank you for the additional information and the photos.

I would clean her up - rinse off the blood and the poop. I wouldn't clip the beak. It's hard to tell if it's cracked or broken. Either way, it's likely still attached by the quick. The quick will dry up and recede on its own in a couple of days. As it does, the broken portion of the beak will get looser until it falls off. Don't worry, it will grow back!

Just keep an eye on her - make sure she's eating and drinking. It will bleed when it gets bumped so be mindful and rinse it off when you can.

If they're not bothering her too much I'd leave her with the flock.

 

[coach723]

I would wrap her up and gently clean it up a bit, try not to make it bleed. If you have some veterycin wound and skin spray that would be good to use. Just try to get dirt off, it doesn't have to be immaculate, if it does bleed you can use cornstarch to stop it. You can use a Qtip to gently apply some of the veterycin. It may be sore, so making a mash with her feed by mixing in water to make a thick gruel may help her eat better. Can you put up a temporary fence or wire to give her a space of her own? Often times aggression like this and picking on a lower pecking order bird is caused by not enough space. If she can't get away, a distance that the higher order bird decides is far enough, it can make things much worse. It's good that the roo's are removed. How old is your remaining rooster? If he's young, a cockerel rather than a rooster, I'd separate him until his hormones calm down. But some roosters are just rough. Having enough space is even more important when you are keeping roosters with your hens.

 

[lrach73]

Thank you all. The remaining roo is a cockerel. All of them were bought at the same time and have been raised together. He's the only one we still have and he's being rehomed tomorrow. I'm tired of seeing my girls hurt and the cockerels have been jerks to us too.

There will be five girls in a 100+ sq ft run, plus 32 sq ft in the coop, with plenty of vertical places for them to go.

I cleaned her up the best I could, but the blood on the beak is very dry and I didn't want to hurt her. I went ahead and put her in the coop with her own food and water. I will let the other girls in with her tonight and see how it goes. The cockerel gets to stay out in the coop tonight.

This is really the only time I've seen them pick on each other (other than an occasional skirmish) and it's hard to know if they are being mean or just curious. For now, I've separated her.

She's walking around okay (and can fly up to the branches/sticks in the coop), but she's definitely not acting like herself.

 

[coach723]

By minimum recommendations and math, your coop and run is adequate for 5 birds. The only caveat to that is that chickens can't read, so.........actual requirements can vary depending on the make up of a flock. A very dominant hen (or roo) can make a space small real fast. Anytime you add or remove birds, the pecking order resets, and conflict can happen where there was none before. So the best way to judge if your space is adequate or not is by watching your flock and their behavior. She may just be in a bit of shock and traumatized from what happened, and it may take a bit of time for her to feel safe again. I would also keep an eye on her just in case there is something else going on. Sometimes if there is an underlying illness the flock will turn on them also, and they are very good at hiding illness and signs can be subtle, we don't see them unless we really look hard, but the other birds know. If you have trouble integrating then you could try putting another bird with her that gets along with her, let those two bond, and then reintegrate the pair, then she has a friend. I don't rush reintegration, the amount of time it takes can vary greatly. If it's just a peck, a chase, some squawking and then it's over it's just pecking order stuff. If it's sustained, then it's probably an attack or bullying. Adding some places in the run that she can hide behind (but not be cornered-there should always be an escape route) may help some too. Hay bales, concrete blocks, bushes, etc.

 

[chickendreams24]

I would say it looks like she ripped off part of the end of her beak. It should heal up and grow back to some degree but may not ever be as long.


If this happens you will need to learn to carefully trim her lower beak being careful of her tounge and the quick in that.

For now keep her separate if the birds are giving her trouble. Chickens tend to go nuts about blood and can go into a sort of feeding frenzy, rather like sharks. This is how a lot of cannibalism happens and can be worse if the birds are confined, bored, having dietary deficiency (especially protein).

She looks like she'll be okay to me but keep an eye out for infection. Give her cool water but not cold if you can help it. The quick of the beak is sensitive and may well be bothered by very cold or warmth.

A gruel mix of feed and water is a good idea and may tempt her to eat.

Also scrambled eggs(of course don't feed them hot). Keep food available to her but in my experience birds with a beak injury may take a few days off food as their beak is tender.

She must keep drinking.

Also yogurt(in very small amounts) or any of her possible favorite treats may help tempt her if she won't eat and if you're worried. I would stay away from stuff that's too hard or two acidic.

Apple sauce may be good, baby food(I keep some on hand in my animal emergency kit) watermelon...etc

My chickens love tomatoes but they could well sting her poor beak.

Also if you manage to get some pictures after you cleaned her up we can try and give you a better idea of the condition of her beak.