De-beaking for chicks? I've got a mean one.

[Retrocop]

Does anyone have any experience with de-beaking a chick to keep it from hurting other chicks? I have a really aggressive one that I'm keeping isolated.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

How old? I would say that most of us here are anti-debeaking. Tell us the ages, what you're feeding them, and how much space they have, and let's try to figure out the problem before you try something as drastic as debeaking.

 

[Retrocop]

I was unaware that debeaking was an issue. Chickens are food and produce food. I'm not hugging trees, either. Talk to me about animal cruelty after we have banned human abortion.

This is just a problem to be solved. It has no humanitarian element.

 

[enola]

Generally, when chicks are pecking each other there is environmental stress caused by one of the following:
1) lack of space (too many chicks in too little space)
2) poor quality feed - I add hard boiled eggs to my chick's menu, I mash them up with a fork
3) no water in the waterer
4) chicks are being kept too warm
5) the chicks are hungry
6) chicks in the pen are of mixed ages
7) they should have grit (or sand) available so their food can be properly digested

Putting dirt in their pen will give them something to scratch and peck in, relieving boredom !

 

[enola]

Debeaking poultry definitely has a humanitarian element involved.

We are here to HELP you with your problem. Comments like your's may get you banned.

Walk softly here, we LOVE our chickens.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

I was unaware that debeaking was an issue. Chickens are food and produce food. I'm not hugging trees, either. Talk to me about animal cruelty after we have banned human abortion.

This is just a problem to be solved. It has no humanitarian element.

This has nothing to do with humanitarianism.

Most pecking problems are caused by a stressor in the environment. Remedy the stressor, fix the problem. If you debeak, and don't resolve the stressor, then your hens will continue to be stressed and will either gain weight more slowly if meat birds or lay fewer eggs if layers. Therefore, I asked you for the information we would need to help you. There are many things to do besides debeaking, even if the problem really is just that you have particularly aggressive birds.

If you want to get nasty when we are trying to help you, then find somewhere else to give you the info. If you actually want some help, instead of jumping to conclusions, give us the information we asked for and we'll try to help you.

 

[realsis]

Well said in above post and to some of us our chickens are part of our family and NOT simply food! They are our beloved pets that happen to provide us with tasty eggs.not all but some of us love our chickens dearly and do not speak of them as just an object to provide food. Even those who have birds for meat have a certain respect for their lives
And care for them with that respect until there time comes. What is so upsetting to me is how you speak of your chickens as if they are things and don't have feelings. I know you Likely don't really care but chickens do have feelings and feel pain and joy and fear just like we do. They deserve a certain amount of respect. You should possibly take under consideration the quality of life of your birds. I know this probably won't make a difference to you but I felt it needed to be said.... ..

 

[Fred's Hens]

Ok, folks. This isn't going anywhere in a constructive way, so we'll just thank everyone for their participation.


BYC Moderation Staff