HELP!!! Broken upper Beak!!!

[Turken784]

I found one of our young Turken roosters with a broken upper beak, it seems to be seperated from his head where it attaches to his head. There was a lot of blood, so he is in in another cage by himself.

He dosen't seem to be too distressed, will it re-attach on it's own? Wait and see?

This is our third spring with chickens, and this is a new one for us.

Thanks, KT-

 

[SD Bird Lady]

As gross as it probably looks, do you have a photo? It may help you get more accurate answers.

 

[Turken784]

I can get a couple, but it will be later. It's not an "Odvious" injury, ie... It's not just hanging by a thread. If it were'nt for the blood, I would not have known.

 

[SD Bird Lady]

Ok, that helps. I was picturing a completely missing top beak. I am unsure but beaks are very similar to horns so based on that similarity. It should regrow fine. Unless the blood vessels that supply the beak are all completely severed.

 

[Turken784]

So, it's been a few days, the little rooster now dubbed "Beakless" by my 6yr old, seems to be doing ok. Turns out that his upper beak is missing the tip, but seems to be attached. He is eating, and drinking fine, so I put him back in the new pen with his siblings.

Thanks,
KT-

 

[Turken784]

....And that was BAD! He got picked on (they went after his beak!) so now Beakless lives alone in a large cage next to the duck pen. He seems to be doing fine, he's growing, and putting on weight.

 

[yea4chickens]

Hi came home this evening to find that my young hen nugget has cracked her beak. The bone part seems intact but the top of it which I think is the nail like portion was hanging off and now while she was eating she scraped it off. Her bone part of the beak is exposed what should I do about it. She is eating as usual. It's been a eventful week for her she layed her first egg on Monday again on Tuesday and the third today and now this....

 

[ten chicks]

Hi came home this evening to find that my young hen nugget has cracked her beak. The bone part seems intact but the top of it which I think is the nail like portion was hanging off and now while she was eating she scraped it off. Her bone part of the beak is exposed what should I do about it. She is eating as usual. It's been a eventful week for her she layed her first egg on Monday again on Tuesday and the third today and now this....

Do you mean the quick is exposed? Usually grows back if not broken off to far down beak. No bleeding? If she is eating/drinking then just leave her. Monitor for any change in eating/drinking habits. i would keep her separate,inside for couple of days until it starts to heal,concern is for other chickens pecking at exposed quick.

 

[Turken784]

Sorry to hear about your hen. She should recover fine, just keep an eye on her. Her ability to peck small things off the bare (hard) ground might be limited, but you can avoid that by always keeping her feeder full. Watch her around other chickens, as she is now different, and we all know how chickens can be when they notice something different.

Update on Beakless:
Our young rooster Beakless recovered from his injury, but had to be kept separate from the other chickens because they kept picking at his beak (or lack there of!) He became a farm yard pet, and would follow us around like a dog when we did chores. He grew much bigger, and stronger than his siblings (Yea free Range!) When he got bigger, he would migrate between our different chicken, and turkey pens, and chase our cats!

Sadly, he was killed by a neighbors dog. But, he lived a happy, free life, despite the loss of his upper beak.

Good luck with your Hen.

KT-

 

[yea4chickens]

An update on Nugget, she is eating and behaving normally this morning. I am trying to keep her from eating on hard ground and feed her more dry food, brocolli, ground bread and kale and of course my 2 hens always have scratch to eat. Her beak didnt come off just the nail like part that covers the beak. I feel much better today and I hope Nugget does too. Thanks for your advise