blood and broken beak :-(

[raacampbell]

Hi,

I've had 6 old chickens (8 weeks old) for 3 days. 3 hens and 4 roosters. Last night was the first night outdoors in the tractor. We have raccoons but the coop is coated in fine hardware cloth so I doubt they'd get a look in. This morning I found fresh drops of blood in all sorts of places in outdoor section of the coop. About half the birds have a little blood where the beak meets the wattle on the top of the head. The beaks are chipped in that area and that bled a little. But one of the hens also has the tip of her beak missing a fair bit of blood there. I'm hoping that the hen will be ok if she can eat but she is in pain. She's missing maybe 5-10 mm from the tip of the upper beak and there is also a chip higher up the beak. We've isolated her in a box with feed and fruit. The birds were acting quiet and sleepy which is unlike them.

I feel awful but I don't know what caused this or what to do. I've not seen them fight yet but could they have done this to each other? They have 26 sq ft outside and 8 inside. I know that's not enough for 6 adults but these are young and half of them are tiny bantams. I'll be culling the roosters as they crow so they'll soon be lots of space.

Any ideas on causes and treatments, please!

Thanks!

 

[SurprisingWoman]

Well, first

I don't know what could have caused this. To me it sounds like they might have freaked out and pecked at the hardware cloth but maybe someone else has some ideas.

*bump*

 

[Judy]

Did you change feeder or waterer when you moved them? There have been a lot of reports of cut beaks from metal feeders. This really sounds like something in their new environment is injuring them, whether it is feeder/waterer or something else. Chickens peck at everything, walls, doorways, etc. Are there sharp edges of hardware cloth exposed somewhere?

 

[raacampbell]

The feeding and watering equipment is plastic so that's ruled out. The hardware cloth isn't sharp and all the edges along which I cut are outside the run.There is some hardware cloth forming a window but I don't think that has sharp edges. I will double-check that. I also found a couple of protruding screws in a nest box. I've now covered those up. But what is strange is that there's no blood drops "indoors" it's all in the run area. Also odd is that they were fine there the first two nights with the tractor in the garage. Now this morning half of them have damaged beaks.

 

[Lollipop]

Just a guess here, but I`ve seen plenty stuff like this from chickens that were scared and hit the wire. Sounds like the beak may be cut by the wire. Any evidence of coons, fox, or dogs trying to get in?

As long as the pullet in question can eat and drink, she should be able to cope. I wouldn`t worry about the pain, she`ll be fine. As far as the flock not being active, that`s normal after trauma and will be ok in a couple days.

Every chickenowner needs a trap and a gun. Set your trap and see what visits........Pop

 

[Judy]

Hmmm...

How about broken glass? Maybe someone used to bury trash where you parked the tractor. Others have had this problem, and I used to live where people used to bury trash, and would find broken glass and bits of metal any time I dug up the soil.

 

[Judy]

Yup, Lollipop's guess is a great one.

 

[Jenski]

I agree with Lollipop - - I think the chicks got scared and hit that hardware cloth head on. Are they locked inside the coop at night?

If you have Neosporin without Benzocaine, Lidocaine, etc. you might dab that on tiny cuts. For the chick who lost the tip of her beak, it can be very painful but it should grow back. Make sure it does not continue to bleed. You should always keep some Qwik Stop or other blood coagulating powder on hand for emergencies; you can just dab it on the tip of the beak where it broke.

The next thing is to ensure she has softened food to eat until she heals. If you make a mash from their chick feed by adding water, be sure to change it EVERY day so it does not mold.

One other concern I would have is infection of the break, but if you do not seek veterinary care just keep an eye on her.

If you have coons, those chicks must be locked up inside a coop at night. (I wasn't clear on whether they were actually locked in, or if they had access to outdoors.) If they are left to run, even in a safe enclosure, I would imagine they have nights of absolute terror outside. . . and they can't see so well in the dark.

Good luck, and please keep us posted on how things go.

 

[raacampbell]

Thanks to everyone for your concern and helpful comments.

The tractor was parked on pavement that night so nothing nasty could have been buried. There was no glass or anything obviously dangerous to the birds in the area.

The blood was fairly fresh at 9:00 am so whatever happened must have occurred within a couple of hours or so of that time. They all went into the coop at dusk but I didn't lock them in so they could have gone to run and crashed about. I think the banging about hypothesis carries some weight because it's the larger animals with the most injuries. The smallest bantams aren't injured at all: I bet they don't have enough momentum to damage their beaks. It's the rooster and the largest pullet which have the most beak damage.

The one with the tip missing has stopped bleeding and is in a cardboard box with water and dry feed. Feed is in a box 2 inches deep so she doesn't peck the bottom of the container. I shall give mash later today--that's a good idea.

My coop area as a small ventilation window on a side which is exposed to the world (not the run). The window is about 12" by 5" and covered in hardware cloth. Nothing will get in that way but maybe the presence of a coon outside will make the chickens freak inside the coop? Maybe I should cut another facing into the run?