beak trim or not to save younger chickens?

[Cindy in PA]

Just a note on beak trimming. I once had a flock of sex links that came with trimmed beaks from the place they were raised. They were able to pick each others behinds until they were bloody at one point, so beak trimming probably won't help. I caught it early & covered their butts with Rooster Booster, an anti picking solution & they all healed up nicely.

 

[FARKESU]

Really there is no enough space in the coop so that they can run around.

 

[newchickenmom33]

Thanks all! We won’t beak trim at this point. My husband thinks the head injury is from the wire from the chick trying to push through. Since it’s such a straight cut. I’m not sure but either way we will give them more room. On a side note we got our first egg today! Only one single really small brown egg.

 

[coach723]

Congrats!

 

[Carolrich]

Regarding beak trimming:
The beak of the chicken, as in all birds, is a complex sensory organ with numerous nerve endings. The beak not only serves to grasp and manipulate food items, but is also used to manipulate non-food objects in nesting and exploration, drinking, and preening. It is also used as a weapon in defensive and aggressive encounters. At the end of the beak is a specialized cluster of highly sensitive mechanoreceptors, called the bill tip organ, which allows chickens to make fine tactile discriminations (Gentle and Breward 1986). Needless to say, damage to the beak is intensely painful, as partially debeaked chickens show a significant increase in guarding behavior, i.e., tucking the bill under the wing, and diminished use of the bill for pecking and preening after the procedure. These pain-related behaviors may continue for months (Duncan et al. 1989; Gentle et al. 1990, 1991).

This excerpt is from the following:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5306232/

And I agree that the space you have is too small.

 

[newchickenmom33]

Regarding beak trimming:
The beak of the chicken, as in all birds, is a complex sensory organ with numerous nerve endings. The beak not only serves to grasp and manipulate food items, but is also used to manipulate non-food objects in nesting and exploration, drinking, and preening. It is also used as a weapon in defensive and aggressive encounters. At the end of the beak is a specialized cluster of highly sensitive mechanoreceptors, called the bill tip organ, which allows chickens to make fine tactile discriminations (Gentle and Breward 1986). Needless to say, damage to the beak is intensely painful, as partially debeaked chickens show a significant increase in guarding behavior, i.e., tucking the bill under the wing, and diminished use of the bill for pecking and preening after the procedure. These pain-related behaviors may continue for months (Duncan et al. 1989; Gentle et al. 1990, 1991).

This excerpt is from the following:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5306232/

And I agree that the space you have is too small.

Interesting. I thought the end was like clipping nails. However I would never attempt anything without further information.

 

[Carolrich]

Interesting. I thought the end was like clipping nails. However I would never attempt anything without further information.

I was glad to read most of this 97 page scientific paper. It is not written too academically so easy to understand. After I read this about the beaks I felt so sad for the poor industrially raised chickens who have their beaks cut off after hatching

 

[lazy gardener]

Regarding beak trimming:
The beak of the chicken, as in all birds, is a complex sensory organ with numerous nerve endings. The beak not only serves to grasp and manipulate food items, but is also used to manipulate non-food objects in nesting and exploration, drinking, and preening. It is also used as a weapon in defensive and aggressive encounters. At the end of the beak is a specialized cluster of highly sensitive mechanoreceptors, called the bill tip organ, which allows chickens to make fine tactile discriminations (Gentle and Breward 1986). Needless to say, damage to the beak is intensely painful, as partially debeaked chickens show a significant increase in guarding behavior, i.e., tucking the bill under the wing, and diminished use of the bill for pecking and preening after the procedure. These pain-related behaviors may continue for months (Duncan et al. 1989; Gentle et al. 1990, 1991).

This excerpt is from the following:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5306232/

And I agree that the space you have is too small.