Help need opinions on debeaking

[OkChickens]

I have had thousands of chicks in my lifetime and have never had them debeaked I think it is cruel! Very seldom do they pick on each other, unless they are crowded, overheated, bored etc. Home raised chickens in my opinion should never be debeaked.

I agree. I hatch many chicks a year and I have between 2.5-3 sq ft for free range birds and 4 sq ft for housed birds with 8-10sq ft or run per bird. I haven't ever had a problem with pecking feathers. I have seen many debeaked birds at Auctions or Swap meets. I would not ever recommend to debeak a bird. It is a very painful thing for them. I am clad that you did not choose that option. In my opinion the hatchery might have offered to debeak the chicks to make more money. Most places its like 0.15-0.25 per bird with a $5-10 minimum charge. They would make more on each bird with little effort. Just a thought.

Nate

 

[joe500]

I think there's a difference between debeaking and "trimming." I started with 5 hens in ample space and at one point, "someone" started the pecking. I think this is what chickens do. It became a problem ONLY when blood was drawn. Then it became almost cruel to watch the hens go after the bloody spot.
So then you have to isolate the wounded chicken till it no longer becomes a target.

Remembering how I trimmed the sharp beaks of canaries when I raised them years ago , I decided to do this with the chickens. I trimmed the sharp points of their upper beaks. It worked beautifully; they "nudged" on occasion, but they couldn't do any serious damage.

If anyone tries this, be careful not to hit a vein. If you do, you'll have to cauterize; but you can get pretty good at it, and the beak grows back, unlike the severity of debeaking. You just need to do it a couple times a year. It gives me and my "ladies" peace at last.

And, if I accidentally trim a little deep, I tell the girls to "suck it up." It's for their own good!

Joe

 

[chickychicka]

My chickens have so far been hatched at home or other private BYC owner. I've never heard of de-beaking until TODAY.
I bought a new pullet yesterday and did not look at her until I got home. When I took her out of the transport carton I noticed (what I thought was) a deformed beak... she even kind of looked dumb, her top beak way shorter than the lower part. So I brought her back and told the seller about her deformity. He smilingly explained to me that he gets the pullets from a big chicken farm or hatchery or something like that (I currently live in Italy and do not understand everything in Italian) and told me the beaks are cut so they don't peck the eggs and each other. I had never heard of that and looked it up today. Looks like this pullet's beak is not just trimmed, it's de-beaked! What?!?! I've been against any cutting of any healthy parts of anyone or anything's bodies (docking tails, cropping ears, snipping baby boys) but I had no idea that chicks had to endure removal of "Nature made it for a reason" 's parts too!
What I learned for the future (because unfortunately I always make a mistake before I get wiser for the next time): Only get new birds from BYC owners or hatch at home.
At least I can say this pullet will have a good life from now on, no more torture by humans.

 

[heronz]

I think there's a difference between debeaking and "trimming." I started with 5 hens in ample space and at one point, "someone" started the pecking. I think this is what chickens do. It became a problem ONLY when blood was drawn. Then it became almost cruel to watch the hens go after the bloody spot.
So then you have to isolate the wounded chicken till it no longer becomes a target.

Remembering how I trimmed the sharp beaks of canaries when I raised them years ago , I decided to do this with the chickens. I trimmed the sharp points of their upper beaks. It worked beautifully; they "nudged" on occasion, but they couldn't do any serious damage.

If anyone tries this, be careful not to hit a vein. If you do, you'll have to cauterize; but you can get pretty good at it, and the beak grows back, unlike the severity of debeaking. You just need to do it a couple times a year. It gives me and my "ladies" peace at last.

And, if I accidentally trim a little deep, I tell the girls to "suck it up." It's for their own good!

Joe

I agree with this method and only the ones you actually see doing it.I think it is equally cruel to see the chicks ripping each other apart.

 

[JacobMaxwell]

It most definitely does not mean a little beak trim: it is used specifically for hens that are in battery cages or crammed into chicken houses for commercial production methods and is completely unnecessary for backyard poultry, not to mention cruel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debeaking

I hate when people express their opinions against debeaking (which is fine) and then post pictures of horrible debeaking jobs that went really wrong. Obviously some sort of accident happened in the last picture above because I have 12 chickens that came from the hatchery "debeaked" and they all look about like the picture below.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think debeaking should be done in a backyard flock unless necessary, I just don't want newbies to be deceived by certain pictures in the wrong context.




What's so horrible about that?

I'm only trying to provide newcomers to the chicken thing with accurate information about certain practices.

If you want to debeak a chicken (only when necessary of course), have some flour ready. Open the bird's beak by pressing on the sides and trim back the upper mandible with the clippers (you can do the lower one as well). Immediately take some flour, and press it onto the cut end of the beak. Hold for a few minutes. Your cannibalism problems are solved!

P.S. If my hens weren't debeaked, many would most likely be dead right now.

 

[Ozzy1]

If you want to debeak a chicken (only when necessary of course), have some flour ready. Open the bird's beak by pressing on the sides and trim back the upper mandible with the clippers (you can do the lower one as well). Immediately take some flour, and press it onto the cut end of the beak. Hold for a few minutes. Your cannibalism problems are solved!

P.S. If my hens weren't debeaked, many would most likely be dead right now. 

Surely there are better and nicer ways of solving such problems that aren't so mean.

 

[JacobMaxwell]

Surely there are better and nicer ways of solving such problems that aren't so mean.

I think the way is to eliminate battery cages and huge commercial chicken barns that cram too many chickens into a small space. I'm against battery cages and debeaking in backyard flocks when not needed, but when you have a pecking problem like I did, debeaking could save your flock.

 

[Ozzy1]

Yeah, I agree now!