Chicken with Injured Beak

[RLynn]

Help! Two of my chickens were re establishing their place in the pecking order and one of them sustained a beak injury. It’s the top portion of the beak that ripped off. It took ten minutes of pressure to get the bleeding to stop. The top beak is now slightly shorter than the bottom, not by much. She is drinking just fine but eating very sparingly, I can only get her to eat a couple bites from hand feeding. I can imagine it’s probably pretty painful for her. I’ve been gently cleaning her beak and putting vetericyn on it. How long will it take to heal generally? Anything else I can do for her? After that last very brief squabble everyone is behaving fine.

 

[_-Captain BRM-_]

I would cook an egg for her. Or soften her food so she has to drink it. Maybe it will be easier or entice her to eat more. I don't know how long it will take to heal. But good luck! Your doing great and I think she will heal pretty soon!

 

[coach723]

You can mix her feed with water to make a mash and feed it in an open, deeper, raised up dish to make it easier for her to scoop. It's harder to pick things up from ground level. You can do water the same way if needed. Beak injuries are very painful at first, over a few days it will harden up and be less painful. As long as the quick was not damaged it should heal up and grow out, but beaks grow slowly, so it may take some time. If you are not sure she's getting enough to eat I would start weighing her regularly, to make sure she's maintaining weight.

 

[Stablecoop]

When we had a hen with a beak injury we would make a slurry out of boiled egg yolk and give enough to sustain caloric needs. For us, it was about 300 calories per day, or about 6 yolks. The calories depend on her weight, if she is laying, and the climate (warmer climes will require fewer calories, colder climes will require more) If she is laying, mixing in some calcium carbonate supplement according to weight and product label might be a good idea too. Like others have said, you are doing a great job! It will heal over time.