Fixing a debeaked chooks lower beak

[Ace1981]

Hi All,

Well as I posted a few days ago I adopted 2 ex battery hens 1 of which has been debeaked.

The lower beak is quite a bit longer than the the top beak.

My question is can I trim the lower beak?

At the moment I am just making sure she has a deep dish of food for her to eat from and hand feeding her.

I would like her to be able to be more independent and be able to forage like the other 3 are.

Any suggestions.

 

[DobieLover]

Hi All,

Well as I posted a few days ago I adopted 2 ex battery hens 1 of which has been debeaked.

The lower beak is quite a bit longer than the the top beak.

My question is can I trim the lower beak?

At the moment I am just making sure she has a deep dish of food for her to eat from and hand feeding her.

I would like her to be able to be more independent and be able to forage like the other 3 are.

Any suggestions.

Can you post some pictures please?
Yes, you can gently and carefully file a little bit of the lower beak down to get them to match a little more closely.

 

[Ace1981]

I will take some pictures tomorrow and post them. Thanks for your reply.

 

[Ace1981]

I will take some pictures tomorrow and post them. Thanks for your reply.

Here is my girl that has been debeaked, can I do anything for her?

 

[Shezadandy]

Always have a deeper dish available for her so she can scoop up the feed. I use the cat claw trimmer scissors to gently shave small parts off- her beak is light enough that you should be able to tell when you're getting close to the quick.

Another good trick is wetting down the feed in a deeper dish, though or course that requires that the food be changed daily -- though mine LOVE moistened food so that's never a problem. Same thing for drinking. I'm guessing she's got it down, but I like to leave a deeper dish of water for the same reason.

So glad you rescued them!!!

 

[Ace1981]

Thanks, will give it a go.