Clipping beaks???????

[Ardizzone7]

We are fairly new to having chickens. We just got our first flock this year. I have butchered all the ones that ended up being males except for 2. Now we have 11 females and 2 males. My husband wants to know if we should clip the beaks of the males so they cannot hurt the other chickens or each other. Is this something that should be done? I really feel it should not. Our chickens free range all day and are locked in the coop at night. We have never had problems except today one rooster fought with 2 females and one other rooster. He injured 2 of them bad enough that we butchered them today. They would have died from their injuries and we wanted the meat. We also butchered one more male that we were going to butcher anyway. We felt it would be easiest to do them all at once.

We butchered the first male a little over a week ago. He was the one in charge. Is the new one picking fights to become king of the coop? Will he keep causing problems? Will clipping his beak work? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[BairleaFarm]

I would and will never clip beaks. IIRC i read that it was painful to the birds. With your ratio and size flock there should be no issues. I would say, yes, hes showing hes the boss. There are always little fights here and there. The pecking order changes all the time. As long as you dont see any major injuries your fine.

 

[Ardizzone7]

I though it seemed really mean. I hope everything will be fine. We butchered of 2 roosters (one injured) and a
hen(injured) today so things should be better.

 

[BairleaFarm]

Ive got 9 roosters and 20 laying age birds with 30 5 month and younger birds running around together. They all free range and do good. Usually the only fighting i have is when i introduce a new birds(i always buy at least 2 so they arnt alone). It usually last less than 3 minutes they everyone is fine.

 

[Ardizzone7]

We were panning to butcher most of the roosters anyway for food so it wasn't a big deal. What bothered me was when I got ome from the grovery store and saw that I had 3 injured an 2 were fighting. The one female that is still living just got a bite on the head, but the other 2 had large chunks of feathers and skin missing from their necks. one rooster had its throat torn open so we knew we had to do something.

 

[welasharon]

That is rather severe damage. I would take out the rooster who is doing that. You don't want one that mean around. They can be nice roosters and still get the job done.
sharon

 

[Ardizzone7]

Today he is taking on a totally diferent personality. He is much more friendly and watching over his girls. He also is coming much closer to me and my family than ever before. Not to be aggressive, but curious. I guess he just wanted to be sure he was in charge. No beak clipping here.

 

[cafarmgirl]

Quote:
I agree 100%. A rooster who did that kind of damage to hens, and more then one at that, would be gone the same day. I am very tolerant of normal rooster behavior but mean, nasty or overly aggressive with the hens and they're gone. If you've decided to keep that one I'd sure keep a very close eye on him. Also because, though it may be partly curiosity, his approaching you closer and closer and will likely result in him challenging you next. Be especially careful if there are small children around.

I also would not ever clip beaks. I've never, ever had pecking problems with chickens who have plenty of coop/run space. If I had a behavior problem so bad that beak clipping was a consideration I'd just remove that bird.

 

[Ardizzone7]

I will keep an eye. We have 2, 3, 5, and 6 year old children. I do not want them getting hurt. If anything else happens, he will be gone.

Thank you for all your comments

 

[ScottyHOMEy]

Not challenging what's been said, but asking an honest question about some of it.

I asked a question earlier that's sunk to about Page 4 now. To do with a 9-week-old chick with a crossed beak that began to show at about four weeks. She's keeping up wth the others (of her own breed and others) and seems to be on a growth spurt that has made her (for today, anyway) the largest of the bunch. So up til now it's not been a problem.

I'm quite prepared to cull her if it gets to the point that she can't take nourishment or water to allow her to thrive as she should.

Still, that cross at the end of her beak is something that could be clipped.

I suspect it will always grow crooked, even if clipped, so I guess the question is whether chicken beaks are like nails on cats and dogs that shed their outer layers when they get too long. Or even our own fingernails. Do they grow only once and they are what they are, or are they something that grows and wears/falls away and replaced with new growth?

As long as she thrives along with the rest, it'sw not a problem. Just anticipating a better, more productive solution if one is out there, before having to decide to cull her.