Easter Egger with a damaged beak

[Iriskandi]

I noticed her beak was damaged a few weeks ago. I did a little research and came to the conclusion that I should let it heals itself. But it hasn't. She still eats and drinks. But she barely makes any noise and seems rather lethargic and antisocial with her flock. We had lost her for 24 hours and miraculously found her back with the group when we were bringing them in from free ranging. She doesn't seem to be perking up, but she doesn't seem like she is getting worse. She has always been very docile with us. She lets me hold her like a baby all the time! I noticed that her flockmates are outgrowing her a tad.

Here's some pictures:

 

[Iriskandi]

Ideas?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Can you take her to a vet?
Do you know how this happened?
Does she have any sores or plaques inside the beak?
What do you feed?

It looks like it could be getting infected, but dead/necrotic tissue can look like that as well. Normally a broken/injured beak will resolve/fall off on it's own without intervention. Since you report that she is also lethargic and is not growing, then she may not be eating enough because of a painful beak or could be fighting illness.

Antisocial behavior is not unusual when a chick is sick or injured. You may want to cage her inside the coop/run so you can monitor her and give extra care. Offer some poultry vitamins and wet chick starter. Add in some chopped egg or tuna for extra protein.

Keep us posted.

 

[Iriskandi]

I will have to see if any of the local vets look at chickens too. I'm not sure how. We assumed that it was probably a feeder accident. No one picks on her. In fact, they often let her cuddle with them. All I can see when she lets me look at it is dirt. She gets Scratch and Peck starter dry and fermented. We have some leftover organic crumble we also give too.

We had been considering separating her from the group again. She has always been a little low energy, but she also used to be the biggest protestor. We had given her some soupy egg. I was thinking that it may be time to give her yogurt and mix up electrolyte/probiotic water. Should I get an antibiotic?
I actually may have some pictures of when I first noticed her beak to post as well.

 

[Iriskandi]