Emergency Ingury ‼️

[Chatty Chikins]

I’m in need of urgent help. I don’t know how to help my 17 week old Silkie. She got her beak stuck in a small fence and now is broken. A little bit of blood came out, not much but the beak is still hanging onto by one side. I don’t know how to help her she’s still eating and drinking but it looks bad. I hope someone knows what to do. Thanks

 

[coach723]

Broken beaks are not uncommon. It's pretty painful for a couple of days, and then the tissue underneath will dry out and harden, and it will be less painful. If the beak is attached enough to be stable, then leave it alone. If it's a risk of getting caught and doing more damage, and barely connected, you may need to trim it off. From what I can tell, you may need to trim that one large point on one side so that it won't catch on things. You can use small scissors, or a file. I would try to let it harden off first if you can, it's going to hurt right now. I generally leave them alone if at all possible, if it's going to come off, it usually will on it's own. Unstable beaks can sometimes be repaired with a tea bag and some super glue (use the gel type, not the liquid - you don't want the glue to run anywhere else), to stabilize them until they have time to grow out. I can't really tell if that's an option here, but instructions for doing it are here: https://the-chicken-chick.com/repairing-chickens-broken-beak/
You don't want to glue it if it's going to seal in dirt or bacteria.
You can put a tiny bit of triple antibiotic ointment on it gently if you want. Until it hardens up feeding a mash of crumbles or pellets mixed with water in a raised up open, deeper dish, can make it easier for her to scoop with her bottom beak. Same with water, a raised up, deeper open dish. If she's not drinking on her own you can try dripping it along the beak so it will run in and she'll swallow. As long as the quick is not damaged too much the beak will eventually grow back, but it tends to be slow. She will have trouble picking anything up off the ground until the beak is more normal length on top, so the deeper dishes may need to be used for a while. I would weigh her now, and then monitor her weight regularly to make sure she's taking in enough until she's eating and drinking normally. A digital kitchen scale works well.

 

[Chatty Chikins]

Broken beaks are not uncommon. It's pretty painful for a couple of days, and then the tissue underneath will dry out and harden, and it will be less painful. If the beak is attached enough to be stable, then leave it alone. If it's a risk of getting caught and doing more damage, and barely connected, you may need to trim it off. From what I can tell, you may need to trim that one large point on one side so that it won't catch on things. You can use small scissors, or a file. I would try to let it harden off first if you can, it's going to hurt right now. I generally leave them alone if at all possible, if it's going to come off, it usually will on it's own. Unstable beaks can sometimes be repaired with a tea bag and some super glue (use the gel type, not the liquid - you don't want the glue to run anywhere else), to stabilize them until they have time to grow out. I can't really tell if that's an option here, but instructions for doing it are here: https://the-chicken-chick.com/repairing-chickens-broken-beak/
You don't want to glue it if it's going to seal in dirt or bacteria.
You can put a tiny bit of triple antibiotic ointment on it gently if you want. Until it hardens up feeding a mash of crumbles or pellets mixed with water in a raised up open, deeper dish, can make it easier for her to scoop with her bottom beak. Same with water, a raised up, deeper open dish. If she's not drinking on her own you can try dripping it along the beak so it will run in and she'll swallow. As long as the quick is not damaged too much the beak will eventually grow back, but it tends to be slow. She will have trouble picking anything up off the ground until the beak is more normal length on top, so the deeper dishes may need to be used for a while. I would weigh her now, and then monitor her weight regularly to make sure she's taking in enough until she's eating and drinking normally. A digital kitchen scale works well.

Thank you so much for the fast response. I’m going to start checking her weight and I’m not sure about the clipping of her beak yet? I think I will give it a few days or so. I did spray carefully some vetericyn plus and as I would tap it she would squirm. So I really don’t know how to help her yet, if she’s in that much pain