Hooked beak - Does this need further attention.?

[Al Capon]

So I've got this little 5-6wk old Silver Spangled Appenzeller Spitzhauben with a bit of a hooked beak. It's healthy, ornery as can be, eats well, no noticeable problems. But I'm wondering if its beak needs to be filed back a bit, it's way more pronounced than its other SSAP sibling.

Will this take care of itself when it starts scratching and eating outside? Should I leave it alone and let it grow? Is the beak within healthy norms? Is this something that I'm going to have to attend to for the chicken's entire life?

Thoughts.?

 

[featheredplanets]

I personally would clip the very tip of it and keep a brick or something alike in the brooder so it can file it’s beak and claws. Once it’s outside it’ll be fine, she just, by the looks of it, hasn’t had anything to file it on.

 

[Al Capon]

I personally would clip the very tip of it and keep a brick or something alike in the brooder so it can file it’s beak and claws. Once it’s outside it’ll be fine, she just, by the looks of it, hasn’t had anything to file it on.

Correct, they've been in a brooder tub since I brought them home. Is that how chickens maintain proper beak geometry? Honestly, have never seen one groom their beak, but that makes sense..

 

[MROO]

My Nankins rub their beaks on rocks and wood regularly. It never occurred to me that they were grooming their beaks, but now that I've read this, I realize that's exactly what they're doing. Smart birds. Dumb hooman ... me!

 

[chuckachucka]

Chicks don't really deliberately tend to their beaks but in a natural setting of being raised with a mother hen outdoors, they would be out and about pecking the hard ground from a young age. However most indoor brooded chicks still don't reaĺly develop very overgrown beaks unless they stay living inside past the normal up to 8 weeks. Some chicks are just more prone to it.
I have a pullet who easily gets a longer sort of flat ended beak that I have trimmed several times. I would trim your little ones beak a little.

 

[Al Capon]

I have a pullet who easily gets a longer sort of flat ended beak that I have trimmed several times. I would trim your little ones beak a little.

What technique would be the least traumatic, dog toenail clippers?

I've got dremels with small stones, but they're bound to freak out if I use that..

 

[MROO]

I've used a pair of human toe-nail clippers - the heavy ones - and a pair of the pliers-type nail clippers for dogs. Both times, I followed up with a gentle swipe using a small metal nail-file.

 

[rosemarythyme]

You might not even need to clip in this case, a non-metal nail file will do the job quickly. I keep a "coarse" one on hand for chicken use.

And yes a few bricks or rocks in the chicken yard is useful for chicken self-maintenance.