beak injury?

[wahmommy]

Tonight i looked in on my hens (I only have 2 EEs, about 4 months old) in my coop, and they were in separate nest boxes (usually they liked to snuggle up together in one of them). Anyway, one of my EEs has a bloody spot on the top of her beak about half way down. I don't know how this happened, they were fine when I put them back in their coop around 4pm - I take them out of their coop and put them in a tractor for most of the day. Anyway, I don't know how the injury happened, or even what to do about it... anyone have any ideas? Should I separate them?

The only other thing was that their waterer was knocked over. So now I don't know if the other hen pecked her (we haven't had any henpecking that I have noticed) or if something scared them and she hit her beak....

 

[BeccaB00]

does it look like a big scrape? our chicks get those all the time from hitting their beaks on the fencing, and somtimes pecking each other. It's really nothing to be worried about, if it IS what I'm thinking

 

[Judy]

No way I would separate them unless I just had to, to keep the injured one from being pecked badly. I'd clean off the blood and try to hide it, maybe use a styptic pencil or bit of flour or something.

 

[wahmommy]

thanks for responding, that makes me feel better - i just went out there (the sun is just coming up, figured if it was dark there wouldn't be anything going on so I left them together last night) and took her out to have a better look. Turns out it is our bigger hen, who also lost the very tip of her top beak mysteriously a couple of weeks ago. It hadn't kept her from eating or anything, so I was just hoping it would grow back. Anyway, the bloody spot on the middle of her beak wasn't bleeding anymore, so I just put some neosporin on it, checked the rest of her, and put her back in the run with the other hen and fed them some laying pellets. She ate fine, so I'm hoping its not that serious.

 

[Miss Lydia]

My goose cut his bill back in the summer don't know how he did it either, but he never watches where he's going, It healed without any intervention from me. Hope yours does the same.

 

[chuckzoo]

I had one of my hens break about 1/2 " of the tip of her top beak and it has grown back completely. I did not take long. I would look at your feeders and waterer. Are that the galvanised type? Some of theses are very sharp inside and that could have caused the injury. I bought one once and took it back immediately since the metal was very sharp.