Broken Beak on chicken. Any options before......

[pantherdustin]

I have 3 chickens that live in my backyard. They are amazing little pets and this morning I noticed that one of their beaks is not looking so good. The entire top portion all the way up to her forehead is completly missing. I have no idea how/when/why this happend. I cannot find the missing piece.

I feel really bad for her because she is walking around pecking the grass like normal but nothing is going in. Is there ANYTHING I can do for her? When should I have to put her down? And if so, how is the best way? Can i take the bottom beak off or something?

My wife is going to be very sad and I need to figure this out in a couple hours before she gets home!

Thanks

 

[Sally Sunshine]

http://www.avianweb.com/brokenbeaks.html

These images below show hens that have been debeaked..

The top picture is of a light trim.. the second picture is of a medium trim... and the third is of a heavy trim

You would only do this if you had a hen that was attacking all the other birds and causing damge to them and you really wanted to keep her, the second and third views are only done to day old birds

The top view can be done to a grown bird.. but never cut too much.. the beak is a living part of the bird and it will bleed if you cut away too much... think of it as cutting into the quick of your own finger nails ... that is what you do when you cut too much from the beak



Also note how the lower beak has not been cut

This is a larger version of how you should cut the beak if you really do have to trim it back

This is a larger version showing you what NOT to do.. never cut the lower beak to compensate for the upper beak

This is an extremely bad cut used by battery hen organisations

This is the bone structure of a normal hens beak on the left.. note the distortion when it has been cut on the right...

http://fowlfacts.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=afflictiondiseaseff&action=display&thread=1215

 

[pantherdustin]

Yes! It is an accidental Heavy Trim (third one down). The bottom beak is still intact. I fed her out of a cup a minute ago and she used her beak as a shovel and was actually eating a little bit (mostly not).

I decided that I couldnt put her down just yet. Ill figure out how to keep her good, but if she starts to loose weight and not look healthy, ill have to finish her. Thanks for the help.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Yes! It is an accidental Heavy Trim (third one down). The bottom beak is still intact. I fed her out of a cup a minute ago and she used her beak as a shovel and was actually eating a little bit (mostly not).

I decided that I couldnt put her down just yet. Ill figure out how to keep her good, but if she starts to loose weight and not look healthy, ill have to finish her. Thanks for the help.

Good Luck With her : ( you can always try to make warm oatmeal with her mash too...

 

[pantherdustin]

hehe I just got done making her a little marsh meal. Pray for Smudge!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Will do!!

 

[pantherdustin]

So just an update on 'ol smudge. She is doing outstanding! She is doing very well and is nice and thick, looking healthy. We learned that she is able to eat chopped up onions and cherry tomatos right out of the garden. She also can eat I also learned that chickens have very long tonues, she pretty much uses it as her top beak now. The only problem we are having now is that the other 2 chickens dont like her and she cant really defend herself (prob because she is kinda ugly).

Thanks

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Did they like her before? poor girl!!