beak trimming, Good Idea?

[ChickieBooBoo]

Quote:
Fifteen birds ranging on a quarter acre sounds a little cramped. They might have seemed to have plenty of room to roam around but I can't imagine they had much to do for long on space that small.

I can honestly say I've never had a flock that picked feathers in all these years. Nor had my mother before me.

Maybe it was the breeds you were running? Not enough quality forage?

I can't imagine any reason to deform a chicken....I'd rather just kill it outright than maim it for life.

I have never had that problem either, the ocasional peck to keep the pecking order but thats it.

 

[chateau poulet]

Pecking isn't necessarily about stress, boredom, or close quarters. Some hens are just mean. I have 4 hens in a quarter acre and one picks on the others. After months of trying to stop it, I got out the emory board today, and at least rounded the sharpness off her beak. I can see why some people need to trim aggressive birds, or why they would decide to cull them.

A question for folks with experience in this: If a battery girl is adopted, won't her beak grow back (so it's not a "life sentence" as a previous poster called it)? It was my impression that beaks grow like a dog's toenails. My girls are constantly swiping their beaks back and forth, filing them back, I assume.

I have to say, too, for folks dealing with an unkind hen, behavior modification therapy has been working for me! When she does it, I yell at her, or shake a branch at her. She's been so bad in the hen-house that for the past few days, I've been locking them out until I can supervise. Then when they head in, and she starts pecking everyone, I bap her and yell at her. It doesn't hurt her, but it is showing MY dominance, and that her behavior is not acceptable. I bap her with my hand several times quickly (bap-bap-bap-bap-bap), and she lets up a good holler of squawks, but again - it is NOT hurting her, at all! It seems to be working, and the other hens are visibly more relaxed when I'm there protecting them. After a few days of doing this, tonight they filed in without incidence. It sounds crazy, but I really love her, too, and could never have "culled" her. I'm very excited that it seems like chickens can learn.

 

[PatiHF]

This has been really informative. My chick has a cross beak that grew more offset every day and it was obvious that if I didn't do something, she would eventually be unable to close her beak. I took a coarse nail file an just took off enough to allow her to start being able to close her beak and allow her lower jaw to align better with the upper.
On the subject of trimming at the hatchery, unless these chicks had an inherited genetic issue, there should be no need to trim them, and if they do have issues, they definately should not be bred. (Just my opinion)