Beak

[bikerchic]

I have a 24 week polish who will NOT leave the coop. I noticed today that her upper beak is really long compared to the other chickens. Do you ever trim beaks? Or do I just leave it like it is?

 

[5parrots&zoo]

If her upper beak is too long, it could certainly interfere with being able to eat. I have not had this problem with any of my chickens; however, I do have an Eclectus parrot, whose beak we have had to trim . The first time we took her to an avian vet who charged $20 just for the beak trim, and he put her to sleep to do that, plus $80 more for the exam (ouch) and the 2nd time, we took her to a general vet who charged only $7.50, and when I watched him do it, he used a little pair of scissors for trimming dog toenails, and I figured I could do that, so I bought myself a pair of the scissors, and the last time, we just did it ourselves. Just have to be careful not to cut too much off, or it could bleed (just like cutting off too much claw). I wonder if something else may be going on, since she does not want to come out...

 

[Michie]

I have an EE with a severe scissor beak, and I just relax her, burn her on her back and start filing it down! Seems to work!

 

[adgcountrygirl]

I have noticed mine scraping their beaks against rocks, small boulders, and the cinder blocks in their coop. One of my Roos had a crack in his beak and I asked a friend if he would be okay. She said it would grow out and it did... in less that a week. I'm guessing their beaks grow like nails so that they stay sharp. Most of the time when I noticed them scraping their beaks, I thought it was just to clean off mud or yogurt. In the last 3 weeks however, I've noticed them doing this when there is nothing on their beaks to clean off.

 

[bikerchic]

There are cinder blocks in there. I have trimmed the poof one of the polish because I thought it was interfering with her vision. I will cut this ones poof also and see if it makes a difference. I will also cut the beak myself, or file it. It is a thin over hang and I think it would file easily.