Do chicken beaks continue to grow through adulthood? (A bit of beak damage)

[arizona_chicken_noob]

Are chicken beaks like rodent teeth, which is to say they continue to grow and wear away over the animal's life time? Or do they just have to make do as their beak gets more worn away through life?

I'm generally curious and also wondering because I just noticed that one of my hens has lost a little bit off the tip of her beak. So far it doesn't seem to affect her and the top is still full length (able to close her beak with no gap).

Thanks

 

[NatJ]

Are chicken beaks like rodent teeth, which is to say they continue to grow and wear away over the animal's life time? Or do they just have to make do as their beak gets more worn away through life?

They keep growing.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

The outer coating of the beak grows continuously, so yes, she should grow that back and look like normal in a few months' time. The structure underneath that outer coating will not grow back if lost, though, which is why you'll notice birds from commercial farms have trimmed beaks that never grow back. This is called debeaking and it removes the soft tissue of the roof of the mouth at the tip of the beak, as well as part of the skull that extends out within the beak, which is why it never regrows.