Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[bgmathteach]

Has anyone dealt with beak injuries before? Siri my favorite of the new Buff Orps injured her beak about 5 days ago. I do not know how she did it but I found her with a bloody beak when it was time to put them up for the night. I cleaned it off and saw and felt a crack on the top of it. She has been able to eat and it did not appear to bother her other then discoloration so I thought it would heal just fine. Tonight when I put her up the tip of the top beak has chipped off. I'm really hoping the rest of the discolored area does not break off because if it does she will end up loosing half of her top beak. At this point I do not think there is anything I can do other then monitor her and make sure she goes to bed with a full crop is there?

@RebeccaBoyd
I have dealt with both a cracked beak (split pretty much up the middle), and a Rooster who lost the front half of the top of his beak.

With the one that had a cracked beak, I used some GEL* super glue to 'seal the crack' so it didn't break in half. That seemed to work well.

For the Roo that lost the front half of his top beak...it had the quick exposed. What I did was cut the curved lip of a clear plastic container to roughly match the lost part of the beak...and a bit longer, & trimmed the front end of the piece to match the point of the beak. Overlapped the back part of the plastic curved plastic with the base still there, used gel superglue & glued the plastic to the hard 'horn' base. So that I wouldn't accidentally get any super glue on teh exposed quick, I put a little triple antibiotic on that portion first. (after, of course, cleaning him up!). The hardest part of this is getting him to stay still long enough so that you can place the faux beak correctly so that he can eat...i.e. so that the upper beak rests against the lower beak when mouth is closed. (It should slightly fit inside your 'new'upper beak, since the faux beak is thinner.)

This actually worked really well! (I was desperate, and surprised myself that this worked so well!!!) It stayed on for about a week, then I needed to replace it. The second one was easier, as the base of his beak had grown. By the time the second one came off, his top beak was mostly grown out...enough so he could eat without a new prosthetic beak!


*The non-gel is too liquid and will go/run where you don't want it to. Having a small popsicle stick or a wooden toothpick (or similar)on hand to help smooth it a bit would be handy!

 

[bgmathteach]

Thank you for this post. I feel like cancelling the Vertex now

It is never bad to have meds on hand. imo, many 'traditional' cures are good for mild cases, and for prevention. If you have a bad case, and need it to work quickly, meds tend to be stronger and quicker acting. I don't know about you, but it is hard to find raw, unsalted pumpkin seeds around here.

I do give them, intentionally, a 3 day dose of pumpkin seeds in mash in late fall, just as a preventative so they go into the winter as healthy as possible. Both because of the molt and cold are draining - they don't need to be feeding worms, too!. And pumpkin seeds are good for them in moderation and/or over short periods of time. They also get some whole pumpkins (broken in 1/2 or 1/4s) that they attack vigorously, too, periodically throughout the fall. (Depends on how many grow here. Last year, not so much due to crazy weather!)

@BY Bob is quite knowledgeable about this, and I would trust his judgement. I wouldn't have had antibiotics on hand if it wasn't for him!

 

[bgmathteach]

This is so useful

Im sorry to ask this but...
Please can you find information not using pdf as it completely locks my phone every time I open one.

I'm sorry @Marie2020 , they were already in .pdf form on the web, and it appears that, on a chromebook anyways, I can't change it to another format.

I'll look later today for my original post...I don't think it was a .pdf, and it stated the number of grams (?milligrams?) per body weight they used per bird, plus stated the 3 types of worms that were common in that region and hence tested on. I"ll tag you on the new post if I find it,

 

[Ponypoor]

How are you Alex?

 

[RoyalChick]

@RebeccaBoyd
I have dealt with both a cracked beak (split pretty much up the middle), and a Rooster who lost the front half of the top of his beak.

With the one that had a cracked beak, I used some GEL* super glue to 'seal the crack' so it didn't break in half. That seemed to work well.

For the Roo that lost the front half of his top beak...it had the quick exposed. What I did was cut the curved lip of a clear plastic container to roughly match the lost part of the beak...and a bit longer, & trimmed the front end of the piece to match the point of the beak. Overlapped the back part of the plastic curved plastic with the base still there, used gel superglue & glued the plastic to the hard 'horn' base. So that I wouldn't accidentally get any super glue on teh exposed quick, I put a little triple antibiotic on that portion first. (after, of course, cleaning him up!). The hardest part of this is getting him to stay still long enough so that you can place the faux beak correctly so that he can eat...i.e. so that the upper beak rests against the lower beak when mouth is closed. (It should slightly fit inside your 'new'upper beak, since the faux beak is thinner.)

This actually worked really well! (I was desperate, and surprised myself that this worked so well!!!) It stayed on for about a week, then I needed to replace it. The second one was easier, as the base of his beak had grown. By the time the second one came off, his top beak was mostly grown out...enough so he could eat without a new prosthetic beak!


*The non-gel is too liquid and will go/run where you don't want it to. Having a small popsicle stick or a wooden toothpick (or similar)on hand to help smooth it a bit would be handy!

I remember you saying you were making a plastic beak - but I had not realized it was such a success. Well done! You should do an article on that. Did you take any pictures?

 

[RoyalChick]

It is never bad to have meds on hand. imo, many 'traditional' cures are good for mild cases, and for prevention. If you have a bad case, and need it to work quickly, meds tend to be stronger and quicker acting. I don't know about you, but it is hard to find raw, unsalted pumpkin seeds around here.

I do give them, intentionally, a 3 day dose of pumpkin seeds in mash in late fall, just as a preventative so they go into the winter as healthy as possible. Both because of the molt and cold are draining - they don't need to be feeding worms, too!. And pumpkin seeds are good for them in moderation and/or over short periods of time. They also get some whole pumpkins (broken in 1/2 or 1/4s) that they attack vigorously, too, periodically throughout the fall. (Depends on how many grow here. Last year, not so much due to crazy weather!)

@BY Bob is quite knowledgeable about this, and I would trust his judgement. I wouldn't have had antibiotics on hand if it wasn't for him!

I will definitely be trying pumpkin seeds - they aren't hard to find on line - and two grocery stores near me stock them - I love them myself which is how I know!
I also toast my own whenever I have butternut squash or pumpkin.

 

[bgmathteach]

I remember you saying you were making a plastic beak - but I had not realized it was such a success. Well done! You should do an article on that. Did you take any pictures?

No pictures at the time, as I didn't have a camera.

Yes, it took about 3 weeks. Top beak was still a bit short, but he could eat with it on his own at that point, so he was good to go! You wouldn't know he ever did it now! (It is Nappie! I'll get pics of current beak this afternoon to show that it came back just fine.)

 

[featherhead007]

How are you Alex?

Somber morning for me and my chicken friends. I was up late last night thinking. Lots of work to do today to catch up on.
I spent most of yesterday with Rocks-Anne.

 

[featherhead007]

I'm sorry for your loss. Like others have said I think it's merciful for her that she passed quickly, when you were with her. Unfortunately grief can take many ugly forms, guilt and anger being some of them, but in the end grief amounts to love.

Since she was a special hen for you, maybe you could write a tribute for her with some of the beautiful memories and photos you have of her?

I’m still working on a tribute to my other feathered friend Beetov-Hen. Somethings are very difficult to write, when they are so emotional and true

 

[townchicks]

Somber morning for me and my chicken friends. I was up late last night thinking. Lots of work to do today to catch up on.
I spent most of yesterday with Rocks-Anne.

Give yourself plenty of breaks today. The time spent yesterday was important and you will never regret it. Grieving takes many forms, and ebbs and flows. Difficulty sleeping is common in grief. you and the flock will adjust at your own pace.