To sum the situation up....We picked up some chicks today from a hatchery that only does leghorns and mostly intended for the big layer houses. The chicks are very healthy and very vibrant HOWEVER every pullet chick is DE-BEAKED when they are sexed and before they leave the hatchery. I did not ask for them to be de-beaked and I asked if they had any that were NOT de-beaked. NOPE, they do ALL PULLETS hatched in their facility. Of course, we had no thought that they would do this. Will their little day-old beaks grow back to normal? Would Comfrey root help them to grow back? Again, we are very happy with the health of the chicks; only WANT NORMAL BEAKS! I am not going to mention the hatchery so please do not ask. Thank you in advance.
If I am correct their becks might grow back, because they are only chicks. I do know that some places de-beck battery hens as chicks, and then sometimes they de-beck them a second time when they are pullets. I would think that their becks might grow back because it was one done once. I might be wrong though. Sorry I dont know much about the root. Anyone else have any ideas?
I would say, NO, it will not grow back. My red sex links came the same way. beaks have made no growth what so ever, and they are now over a year old. Their beaks were trimmed at day one like yours. I did not know i was getting de beaked pullets either. I dont want anymore like this, it just doesnt look right. These are some very nice hens, very friendly, just have the not normal looking beaks. But they have not grown at all, and by what i am told, they shouldnt.
Yeah, I think the whole point is they DON'T grow back, otherwise they'd have started cauterizing it or something else. Give your girls a great life and don't go to that hatchery again.
Aww...Thanks everyone. I was afraid that was the case. That is too bad. Well, we brought home some cockerels too (none of these were debeaked) so if we want anymore leghorns we will just hatch some. The little girls will have a good life here. They will have day range and a good coop. Also garden goodies. We have a few 'second life' ex-battery hens (brown eggers) and they have short beaks...just hoping that they were done later or recent as we have only had them for a couple months. Golden Sparrow; I read some on the internet research that sounded like they might grow back too but could not find anywhere that said that they Will grow back. Again thanks everyone...I think I am going to try putting comfrey root on their beaks and see if it changes anything ...might not work but it can't hurt anything. It did wonders for my daughter who burned deeply the palms of her hands and there is no scar today...just not sure how to stick it on there. Sure sounds rediculous but they will be more effective buggers and foragers if they have their beaks right.
LOL my son started laughing as soon as I told him what I was planning on doing ...yes it does sound funny...I was thinking about feeding them some also
Maybe rub the root on there or something lol instead of trying to tape it on their beaks. It is supposed to be a great healer but with the tissue damage that's done when they debeak, I wouldn't hold my breath.
The birds will be fine. The chickens don't care if they look odd. Just care for them well and give them a good life. Now, you've got the good egg laying genetics, so you can hatch your own replacements and those will have normal beaks. If a bit of beak is trimmed off, it will grow back. But if it is trimmed shorter than a certain point, it will probably be permanent.
