Beak trimming?

[mama24]

I have a little bantam roo, a Pyncheon. He's teeny tiny. But I noticed last week that the tip of his upper beak is getting way unnaturally long. Like so long I'm worried he's not going to be able to eat right if it gets any longer. It's very thin and pointy, and curved over his lower beak by quite a bit more than is normal. Should I trim it? Anyone else have this problem? My whole flock is in a rather large pen, and I let them out to free range for a few hours most afternoons. None of the others have a long beak like his. It's really strange. Should I use my goat hoof trimmers? Or is there something else that will work better? Thanks!

 

[JerseyGiantfolk]

I use regular human toe nail clippers on their beaks, you trim until it look natural, if there's sharp spots that need to be sanded off, I get a nail file and rub it till its natural.

Hoped this helped.

 

[Glenmar]

I used dog nail trimmers on one of mine.

 

[donrae]

Place bricks or larger rocks where the birds can wear their beaks down naturally. I'd give that a try first.

 

[FarmGirl01]

I use regular human toe nail clippers on their beaks, you trim until it look natural, if there's sharp spots that need to be sanded off, I get a nail file and rub it till its natural.

Hoped this helped.

I agree with this.

 

[mama24]

We have giant quartz boulders, smaller quartz rocks, bricks, concrete patio, my house has a brick foundation. Like I said, he is the only one with this problem.

 

[mama24]

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll make sure to get the little guy's beak trimmed today!

 

[JerseyGiantfolk]

That reminds me, I need to trim mine...

 

[Gargoyle]

I had one who had trouble eating, she kept dropping food, was a bit pale and anemic looking. The run has lots of rocks, and part of the run is concrete, so plenty of places for her to rub it, but the tip hooked over a bit and interfered with picking up food. We sanded it with a finger nail file and she immediately started eating better and perked up.

We had this problem with an old love bird (about 17 years old at the time), he was losing weight and getting weak, after sanding down the tip of the beak he ate better, feathers and eyes got brighter, and he hung around another couple of years.

 

[nok13]

wow. now that u mention beaks, i think this may be the rpobelm with a rescued chicken i just inherited. daughter brought me two chickens of unknow origin abandoned by the botanical gardens she works at; no sign, nothing. one chicken has a horrible infection over its eye which hubby opened to drain, but the chicken has a pale comb, weak, adn looks 'not thrifty' as they say.. its beak is also very curved and long so now i think that may be part of the general rundown look about it... also not sure what sex these two are.... kept over night in quarantine, no runs, didnt see any thing external, and hubby doesnt believe in this stuff anyhow so he threw them in to my laying hen coop... lots of squawking so i quickly thru in treats to get the big girls' attention... didnt notice this new chicken eating... if this is indeed the problem, tomorrw if he/she is still in this world, i will trim beak.

btw, for goats and dog toe nails, i highly recommend what my vets all used: a pruning shears for the goats and a wire cutter (for the dog nails).. no need to waste money on specific items. i do my small dogs' nails with a cutter, it is fast easy, doesn pull on the nail, can manage super hard nails. and a pruning shears works great on goats and sheep. probably good for beaks too.