Funny looking beaks

[lindabean]

I recently bought some year old hens from a man in my county that sells eggs. I noticed, when I got home, their beaks looked "stubby" and I could see their little pointed tongues when they drank or ate. Am I describing a chicken that has been "debeaked"?

 

[Cornychick]

Sounds like it.

 

[GreenGoddess]

Definitely sounds like they have been debeaked.. Just make sure you have the food deep enough for them so they get plenty to eat since if it's bad enough, it will be more difficult for them to peck normally.. As long as they are eating and drinking, they shouldn't need any "special" treatment other than a loving home..

Goddess

 

[silkydragon]

all my hens have been debeaked and i hate it becouse it looks so ugly and a free range which i have heard debeaked chickens dont do as good free range as others so im waiting for some broodys or an incubator so i can just replace them with there own offspring and have a big barby q

 

[cjeanean]

Like this? If so they're debeaked....people do that when chickens are overcrowded to prevent cannibalism or egg eating....although some chickens are cannibals or egg eaters even if they're not overcrowded. (I swear, one of these days I'm gonna figure out which one of mine would rather eat her eggs than let me take them.....

talk about overprotective!)

 

[henney penny]

If they are debeaked will the beak ever grow back?

 

[Wynette]

It can if it was just a tiny trim to the end, but most of them do not grow back. THe beak is like a dog's toenail; it has tissue/veins in it, and if they are clipped past that point, it's permanent. I'm glad the OP's found a good home!

 

[lindabean]

Yes, they look just like cjeaneans post. I really didn't notice it at first, then when I sat out with them after I started letting them out with the others, I noticed them sticking out their pointy tongues! I had never seen such a thing. The other hens are still pushing them around, so I am sure that they have a separate food pan to eat from. Mostly they sit out in the circle of sun in the grass in front of the pen and sun themselves all day. They've figured out the dogs can't reach them, so they seem happy. This was a big surprise to me. The man I bought them from was raising brown eggs for sale, and I saw that he had 2 long elevated houses for them. I guess he ordered them that way so he wouldn't loose any eggs. Thanks for the input.

 

[fernsgang]

I got some chickens that were debeaked years ago (I was a newby, and clueless), and one thing I found was that they couldn't preen properly and ended up loaded with lice! Even dust baths didn't help. I think debeaking is cruel and inhumane!

 

[jaimslee4u]

That Is Horrible Why Would Someone Do Such A Thing....??????