Chipped beak w/ a cuticle-looking thing exposed. Avoids eating and drinking. Please help.

[acdev]

Woke up to see one of our 10-week-old pullets with a chipped beak at the very tip. It was definitely bleeding. The thing is, it isn't totally broken off. It looks like the top layer was chipped off, leaving a sub-beak exposed. My wife said maybe it's like when you cut a dog's claw too short, you hit the nerve.

We fixed the potential cause of the problem by modifying the coop. I think she may have gotten her beak caught in the hardwire cloth.

I'm wondering if nerves are exposed or something because she can't eat well. She'll pick up the crumble and let it fall. We tried crushing the crumbles and mixing it with water to make a paste. That worked okay, but she wouldn't eat much.

She won't drink too much, either, although she is drinking a little. We have a little syringe that we used to force-feed her a little.

Other than that, she just doesn't seem herself. She's laying down, not foraging or scratching around.

I'm thinking that she'll be okay in a few days. She might lose some weight. I'm hoping that, as long as we feed her the paste a couple times a day and give her some water, she'll recover.

If anyone has any advice that would be great. Maybe someone out there has experienced a similar problem.

I guess the bottom line is: will she be okay?

Thanks.

 

[jruhle]

One of my chickens broke her beak badly and wouldn't eat for a couple days but I hand fed her soft foods for a week and made sure she got enough food and water and she made a full recovery. Maybe seperate her.

 

[CedarAcres]

I think you're correct about the comparison to a dogs nails. I'm thinking she is just sore and will feel better as it heals. If she seems stressed, separating her from the others & offering soft foods wouldn't be a bad a idea.