Crooked beak problem

[Ant]

Hi All,
My little Araucana, Cleo, has a crooked beak.

I have 5 girls altogether and they're about 4 weeks old. I do feed Cleo with a deep dish and she seems to get water. I've read about trimming or filing beaks beaks. I need to do something because her top beak is starting to "hook" over her lower one. My question... How hard is it to file a beak??? Is there much chance of her beak splitting?? I don't want to hurt her and there are no vets in the area that work with chickens!!

Thanks for any help!!

Ant

 

[ReikiStar]

Their beaks are like toe nails (they have a certain amount of flexibility) so you don't have to worry about the beak splitting while filing. But once you start to file, you will have to keep it up regularly. Letting the beaks get overgrown is the main reason these kinds of birds starve, they can't open their mouth wide enough for the two overgrown beak ends to pass each other and make a clear, open path to the mouth.

We just dremmeled our cross beak roo this morning. Took less than a minute to do both beaks.

The one thing you will have to be comfortable with is restraining them. Have another person hold Cleo, then use your free hand to hold her head still. If you use a Pedi-Paws or dremmel tool, make sure you don't touch the tongue or inner part of the bottom beak, you may have to put your pinky across her mouth to keep the two beaks separated. But once you get their head still, its a simple process. If you use a dremmel-like tool, it goes even quicker.

Just realize the electric filers generate more heat, so we blow on the beak as we're filing it.

Don't be afraid, it's very simple. If you've filed dogs' nails, this is nearly the same. Its something Cleo needs in order to survive.

 

[Ant]

Love the quote!! Thanks so much for the comments. I am ok with restraining her...i just needed someone to tell me that it is ok to hold her and file her beak! She seems about the same size as my others so i know she's getting food. I worry about her tongue getting too dry because her beak is always open...any thoughts on that??? (My friend and I are a little concerned about her having bad breath!! LOL!)

 

[jen5680]

My don't you jsut clip it with some really sharp clippers like the kind for dog nails or even finger nail clippers.
I jsut use fingernail clippers.

 

[Okie Amazon]

Quote:
One of my EEs has funky beak also and his mouth is always open. He's nearly 4 months old now, and so far it hasn't seemed to a problem.

 

[Inkheart]

Quote:
My little guy i use dog nail clippers for his beak - i think it would be too much to file and longer and more stress on the bird - quick snips with the clippers and he is good -

 

[Ant]

So...do i need to worry about "quick' or something like that??? I did try to file her top and bottom beak and she stayed pretty well. We handle the girls a lot and Cleo especially is good with me. but it took a long time. I think a quick clip would be easier...I'll try it. you guys are really great on this forum! We've keep chicken at our school for the past 5 years and I finally talked my other half into letting me have 5 for home...well of course, i get a chick with this problem!! LOL! but at least I can take care of her!

 

[Inkheart]

Yes its just like a dog or cat nail - there is the quick ( spelling?) and if you hit that it will hurt - the clearer part is ok - when you see the solid color is where you shouldnt clip -

 

[chickens & dogs]

Thanks for posting,this helps me too.....