I was hoping to never say this...

[drumstick diva]

Whoppee for Tillie!! I am so happy to hear she is eating and back on the roost.

 

[jojo@rolling acres farm]

In Parrots, damaged beaks grow back. It does take a while and they may not be perfectly aligned but they do grow back. I'm glad she seems to be eating. Keep an eye on her and make sure she's not losing a bunch of weight...think high calories for Tillie. The deep dish idea is one of the best...she'll need to scoop things in by the way it looks You might need to trim back her bottom beak a bit and as the top one grows you may need to trim and shape it as it grows out. I've used a dremmel tool to reshape parrot beaks...it's quick and painless. Just remember when you are shaping and trimming beaks less is more...do a little at a time.

 

[dmdhart]

I am so happy for Tillie!!!!! Sounds like she's on the road to recovery. I would still add some Poy-vi-sol to some extra nutrition for her, and keep giving her treats like spahetti and scrambled eggs. It will give her the extra boost that she'll need during this recovery period.

I know what you mean about having the chickens run over to you. It's such a great feeling. I now understand why my grandma walked out to the hen house so many times a day. I remember as a little girl if she got upset it always seemed that she would go look for eggs or feed the chickens. Now I get it!

 

[j71]

Morning Bird lovers....

I didnt want to bump this yet again but I could use some advice/suggestions/thoughts....

Its been about 3 weeks since our coon incident. Tillie is alive....seems ok. She doesnt hang with the other birds as much as she used too when the free range. I have been hand feeding her meal worms and night crawlers, spaghetti and whatever she can get down...even gave her some strips of turkey from dinner...she liked.

I have a NEW picture of her from last night. If you recall from previous posts her beak was crushed by a coon. The top 1/2 is virtually gone (although its now pinkish in color and NO signs of infection but im not a DRX so I am only assuming here.) and seems to be healing but I am very doubtful it will grow back enuff to help her eat better.

The bottom 1/2 of the beak, which was SPLIT/cracked during the fight is now bent on a 45degree from her pecking at stuff.

She is having trouble pecking at food. She scratches but when she pecks comes up empty handed. I can tell (I think??) that she is frustrated some. I am feeling bad....again.

I am thinking.....follow me here....this is my logic.....I think I should TRIM the lower beack back some. I think of the beak like two chop sticks.....you simply cannot use one chopstick that is 10in and the other that is only 4in....it would never work. Does this make sense? If I trim the lower beak a smidge it may it MIGHT help her to grab things better. She cannot even pickup a nice juicy night crawler on her own. I actually hold the worm or spaghetti in the air so it dangles down and she manages to grab and get it down.

Heres a pic.....ANY ADVICE/Suggestions are appreciated....

My friendly girl........Tillie....

ps. Right now for me personally its a quality of life issue. Not concerned about eggs or anything. i have 5 birds and they live the life! Nice comfy coop, great free range yard, kids in the house who play around with them n stuff....But, its a QOL issue more then anything....

 

[j71]

One last....innocent *bump*

 

[SAORSA]

I am not sure how much of the lower beak has blood supply and how much of it is just horny growth. If you can determine how much of it still has a blood supply to it before you actually cut off the end ... I would try to remove as much as possible. I agree with you, if you can get them more or less the same length she could probibly learn to use it sucessfully.

You sure did a good job of geting her to heal.

At least this will give you another bump.

 

[SAORSA]

I was just thinking, you might use a really good fingernail file to shape it a little. It would help you take off just a little at a time so as to avoid "quicking" her.

 

[j71]

TY!!!

Thats a good idea...Im gonna see if I can research the blood supply/flow if any thru that lower beak part.

I appreciate the feedback very mcuh!

 

[j71]

I just found this here....is this really accurate info??? If so, we could still be in luck...

I can actually picture making her look similar to this....but I am nooooo plastic surgeon!

Thoughts???

 

[sourland]

Trim the lower beak back to the quick. You can actually force the quick to retract by periodically trimming the lower beak back to just before it bleeds. This is the same technique that works on dog toenails. File or trim small amounts every couple of weeks. You may be more of a plastic surgeon than you know.