Hen broke part of her top beak off. Cannot scoop food.

[berkeleymama]

My hen broke off about a 1/4 of her top beak off today - her lower beak sticks out now as if she has an underbite. I tried feeding her mashed up feed with mixed with yogurt and she wouldn't take it. I also cooked her some brown rice which she showed no interest in. She kept trying to pick up her regular pellets but could not.
I tried shoving it in with my fingers but that didn't work well either.
The end of her wounded top beak has reddened with blood throughout the day. Her comb grew pale and she sat by herself in the sun or stayed away from the group. She is usually the leader (hence the fight with a newcomer) and very social.
Is there a method I can try to get the food down? I will try the soft scrambled or boiled egg in the morning. Has anyone attached a prosthetic tip to their chickens beak? I was thinking I could try fake nails with medical tape.
I am so concerned that she will starve.

 

[boxermom&nowchicks]

I don't know what to suggest that you do, but I have seen a thread or two similar to this. Just type in broken beak or injured beak in the search bar in the top right hand corner of the page and you will get a list of similar posts.

Good luck to you and your hen.

 

[jenjscott]

She will need to have a deep feeder to eat out of. If it is deep enough, she will be able to pick up the feed. I think I would let it heal a few days before trying to glue anything on, but that can be done also.

 

[TheWaddler]

She will figure out a way to eat, just watch her weight. She should be fine and the beak should grow back to an extent....I don't think it comes back completely if I remember what I have read here correctly. It will be a little shorter but their beaks are like our fingernails so it doesn't hurt her. Like the person above stated she will need a slightly deeper feeding dish because she can't pick stuff up off the ground very well.

 

[bufforp89]

She needs a few days for it to toughen up and get used to it. I would also suggest a deep dish/feeder with softer foods in it. She will figure out a way to eat. I had a BO roo that lost half of his beak. You can also trim the bottom some so that its a little easier for her to pick up food. Just don't get too close to the quick. My roos beak grew right back in a few months, it grew back pretty ugly/ragged but a few filings set him right and he is fully functional/normal.

 

[nascr2ie4]

I noticed my hens picking on one of my hens and when I went to invetigate I found that the hen being picked on had a broken the top half of her beak off and couldn't scoop up food, I seperated her from the flock, and took a small dish put some egg layer crumble and added warm water to make a mush that would stick to her bottom beak when she pecked at it. It took about a day for her to figure it out but she is eating and drinking. I just mix up the mush a couple times a day as she eats it and today she started laying eggs again.
Your hen will figure out a way to eat if she is hungry. Hope this works for your hen.

 

[nurse_turtle]

I have a Coturnix quail that has no upper beak at all and is doing very well. As long as the food is an inch or 2 deep, he's all good.