Help! broken beak on 8 week old pullet.

[MotherHen1234]

Thank you so much!

 

[Shezadandy]

Valleyvet.com is reasonable for feeding tubes and the feeder syringes. I stopped bothering with 60cc syringes and now stick with 35cc only- if you're working alone, it's really darn hard to get the plunger to push in with 60ccs- plus you're working with a little gal so you don't want to overfill her.

PetSmart has the baby parrot food- it's cheaper (by a lot) if you "buy" it online and pick it up in the store. It goes through the tube very easily. They may even have the feeding tube if your vet doesn't - otherwise check your farm store.

Haven't had a beak incident quite this bad- but YES, hardware cloth ABSOLUTELY can do this to them - even 1/2" with all the edges framed in smooth wood. I had a broody hen freak out while I had her nest blocked (broken egg courtesy of another hen fighting with her- it had to be cleaned out or if would have put the whole hatch in danger) - anyhow- even though it was just about dark - she jumped up and somehow hooked a little part by the nostril and one whole side was basically hanging off. Don't ask me how, but it was absolutely hardware cloth.

Trim anything that can get caught easily with nail clippers- smooth around the edges as possible.
Vetricyn is a miracle worker -
And Neosporin after a vetricyn flush.

They heal faster than one things they will, though your pullet did a great job of it.

 

[MotherHen1234]

Thank you for the advice. Is there anyway I can prevent this from happening again?

 

[Shezadandy]

Thank you for the advice. Is there anyway I can prevent this from happening again?

Unfortunately, no -- unless you've got spots where the edges of the hardware cloth are exposed where maybe they hooked into her nostril or something - mine are completely covered with a wooden frame - think like a window frame but the hardware cloth is the "glass" - just one of those freak accidents.

 

[MotherHen1234]

Yeah.

 

[Eggcessive]

Here is a helpful video showing how to insert a feeding tube:

 

[MotherHen1234]

Thank you. Update ~ I am able to get about 25 cc of water every hour and 10 cc of organic baby applesauce ( no seeds!) She seems to be in less pain this morning! I don’t think I will have to tube feed. Thank you all for all of the information.

 

[MotherHen1234]

 

[Shezadandy]

Thank you. Update ~ I am able to get about 25 cc of water every hour and 10 cc of organic baby applesauce ( no seeds!) She seems to be in less pain this morning! I don’t think I will have to tube feed. Thank you all for all of the information.

Yay!! If you can, you may want to order the supplies you would need should another emergency come up - I like to keep at least 10 feeding tubes and feeding syringes on hand - they can absolutely be re-used if promptly cleaned - then they can just sit in their sterile packaging, hopefully for a long, long time! I look at it in the car wash vs. rain kinda way. If I never take my car to the car wash, it won't rain. =)

 

[MotherHen1234]

Update ~ the piece of beak came off she doesn’t seem to have noticed it is gone ? She is still eating and drinking good. In total since 6:00 I have gotten about 120 cc of soft food and water in her.