Cracked Beak

[azygous]

There are more nerve endings in the beak than anywhere else on a chicken's body. For a chicken, the beak is used as we use our finger tips, to gather information and to communicate. The level of pain a chicken experiences when they've injured their beak would be on par with you slicing the tip of a finger cutting up veggies.

 

[Rick&Chris]

Can you get a side view of her too?
What does her lower beak look like?

To me it's very odd for a crack. The split is symmetrical, smooth and not jagged like I would expect for a break or crack.

View attachment 3869061

Here are some other photos:

 

[Wyorp Rock]

In the roof of her beak, it looks slightly thickened. Is there a bad odor?

I'm not sure what you can do to prevent it from splitting more. I would be hesitant at repair, but I'd also be worried it will get worse.

Let's tag in a couple others to take a look. @Eggcessive @coach723

 

[Rick&Chris]

Panting is a sign of stress, in this case, pain.

True …. It’s also 95+ degrees. They’re all panting.

 

[Rick&Chris]

In the roof of her beak, it looks slightly thickened. Is there a bad odor?

I'm not sure what you can do to prevent it from splitting more. I would be hesitant at repair, but I'd also be worried it will get worse.

Let's tag in a couple others to take a look. @Eggcessive @coach723

I don’t know what the roof of her mouth should look like, honestly. I’ll need to look at another one. There is no smell. She acts fine, eating, drinking, pecking at my legs and back like normal.

 

[coach723]

I don't know what the timeline of those pictures is, but in some the lower beak is longer than the upper, and in some the lower beak is shorter. Did you trim the lower at some point? In the ones posted today, the first picture shows the lower beak much longer than the upper and the next two it looks like it was trimmed or broken? And in some the crack seems less wide? I'm just a little confused at what I'm seeing at what point in time?

 

[Eggcessive]

I would be tempted to use the superglue and empty tea bag method to keep it from splitting open more, but I haven’t done this before. This is where a vet or avian vet would be helpful incase there is something inside causing the beak to become thickened as Wyorp Rock mentioned. Please let us know how this progresses or improves.

 

[Rick&Chris]

I don't know what the timeline of those pictures is, but in some the lower beak is longer than the upper, and in some the lower beak is shorter. Did you trim the lower at some point? In the ones posted today, the first picture shows the lower beak much longer than the upper and the next two it looks like it was trimmed or broken? And in some the crack seems less wide? I'm just a little confused at what I'm seeing at what point in time?

Thanks for the reply. All photos were taken on the same day (with the exception of the very first 2 where I showed the crack). They were recently taken within 5 minutes, nothing was trimmed. I think the different angles is deceiving.

When her mouth is partially open the beaks appear to be the same length. When her mouth is completely closed, her upper beak looks longer.

Same day/time yesterday:

 

[Rick&Chris]

I would be tempted to use the superglue and empty tea bag method to keep it from splitting open more, but I haven’t done this before. This is where a vet or avian vet would be helpful incase there is something inside causing the beak to become thickened as Wyorp Rock mentioned. Please let us know how this progresses or improves.

What should the inside of her beak look like?

 

[Eggcessive]

There should not be any yellow or white material or growth inside the beak. Here is a good link with pictures of the inside of a normal beak, scroll down:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/chicken-checkup-diy-physical-exam/

Another picture from Cornell: