Beak Trimming?

[chickencoop789]

Exactly what is beak trimming? How often do you need to trim a chicken's beak? How do you trim their beaks?

 

[donkeyfoal]

Beak trimming is the 'act' of removing about 1/4 of the top 'beak' so hens are less apt to peck at each other or peck at eggs. I have never had the 'had to do it' moment to debeak a hen. I use concrete/fix-all filled eggs to stop the 'pecking of egg syndrome'. Basically speaking, they remove about 1/4 of the top beak by cutting/slicing and immediately cauterizing it with a hot iron to stop the bleeding. Most of the time debeaking is an unnessessary added cost procedure. Through over 1000 hens, I've never had to do this procedure. If an 'egg pecker' is found/observed, she is removed from my flock. Egg pecking is not a trait I want to breed 'on'.