Broken beak? The upper hard layer is not attached

[Naisha]

Hello. Today I’ve found one of my chickens has injured her beak and I took a picture. I have no idea what I should do or if it will heal on its own. Thank you guys.

 

[Naisha]

Bump

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I had a cockerel with the exact same injury last year and he healed just fine without intervention. As long as your bird is eating and drinking on her own, she should do the same. This was my bird the day of the injury and after 3 weeks without intervention. The outer sheath fell off after a day or two and he looked pretty gnarly for a bit but didn't have any complications or anything. I didn't take many pictures of him after this and ended up rehoming him, but he looked totally normal after 2-3 months.

 

[Naisha]

Thank you, that gives me hope! I haven’t seen her eat yet because I’ve found out about that injury today and I’ve separated her to keep an eye on her more easily. Since it’s a new place, she’s a bit stressed and didn’t want to eat, and now she’s sleeping.
I’ll try to give her soft food, eggs.. and see if she eats.

I’ve asked in a Facebook group and some people told me to stick it back with super glue or epoxy, but I don’t know if that’s healthy or if I can do that.

 

[coach723]

I wouldn't try to glue that. The glue can work to stabilize a crack or small break while it grows out. If you glue that you are going to potentially seal bacteria and dirt in, and it probably wouldn't hold. It's probably very painful and will be until the quick dries up and hardens. Feed her in open, deeper dishes and mix the feed with some water to make a soft mash. The deeper dishes will make it easier to scoop with the lower beak, and be less painful. Same with water, deeper, open dishes, raise them up on something, like concrete blocks, so they are about chest height. As long as the quick isn't damaged the beak will grow back, but it will take some time, beaks tend to grow slowly. She will have trouble picking things up off the ground. It would be a good idea to weigh her regularly until it's more normal to make sure she's getting enough and not losing weight. I had a roo with a badly broken beak and after a few months it was nearly back to original. Her beak is broken pretty far up, so it may take longer to grow out.
For future reference, this link explains how to use super glue and a tea bag to repair or stabilize a beak:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/repairing-chickens-broken-beak/

 

[Naisha]

Update: the part that wasn’t attached fell and now it looks like this. I put some betadine and gave her soft food in a deep bowl, but she hasn’t eaten today.

 

[coach723]

I'm sure that's very sore. Experiment with how soft or runny, or more firm with the food, to find what she may like. Is she drinking?

 

[Naisha]

I'm sure that's very sore. Experiment with how soft or runny, or more firm with the food, to find what she may like. Is she drinking?

She doesn’t want to eat or drink.. ive tried giving her lukewarm water but she rejects drinking.

 

[coach723]

I'm sure it's very, very sore. It will take several days for that to harden up and be less painful. If neccessary you can tube warm fluids to keep her hydrated, until she starts drinking on her own. Try dripping warmed fluids on her beak so it drizzles into her mouth. Once it hurts less she should be more willing.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/go-team-tube-feeding-updated-12-29-2019.805728/

 

[Naisha]

Thank you! I’m not sure if I can do the tube thing. I’ll try to drip fuids and try to make her drink that way.
I suppose it’s a good idea to give her water with sugar? At least that way she can get some energy besides water.