Injured hen beak punctured, misaligned, and discolored

[Weeg]

I just worry that doing that would be too painful and a long healing process for her. How does bracing the beak work? Alternatively, do you think that the beak might heal on its own but remain misaligned? I want to give her a chance a survival but wouldn't want to take away her quality of life. Unfortunately there is no nearby avian vet

I don't see a way that the beak would realign on it own. The puncture may heal, but if she can't eat or drink with the beak misaligned, then she wont be able to survive, without you constant help. Lets see what the experts say, don't take my word for anything, I am not that experienced in this area. I can offer my wishes though, and say I am crossing my fingers!

 

[Weeg]

Veterinarians do perform beak repairs on chickens, though it is pricey. One major concern is if there is a blood supply to the beak and the other is infection. You lovely hen needs to be put on antibiotics, pain medication and fed a liquid diet-hand feeding formula works well. Give her a day or two in a warm, dry, quiet place and see if she perks up. In cases like this nursing care can make a world of difference.

https://the-chicken-chick.com/how-to-care-for-injured-chicken-and/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/help-severely-traumatized-hen-what-can-i-do-now.894545/

What antibiotics do you suggest? Can she use aspirin for pain? (I'm assuming that wouldn't be the best option but I thought I would ask)

 

[bobbi-j]

If she were mine, I would seriously be considering her quality of life at this point, and how much time I would be able to invest in a chicken that may never be able to eat and drink on her own. I work full time, so I would not be able to feed her multiple times a day. She’d likely be hungry or thirsty before I was able to take care of her needs. I would then most likely consider ending her suffering.

 

[Weeg]

If she were mine, I would seriously be considering her quality of life at this point, and how much time I would be able to invest in a chicken that may never be able to eat and drink on her own. I work full time, so I would not be able to feed her multiple times a day. She’d likely be hungry or thirsty before I was able to take care of her needs. I would then most likely consider ending her suffering.

Do you think there is a chance her beak could realign with proper care?

 

[aart]

So is there not any way to untwist her beak or would it just be most humane to end her pain?

I suspect her skull is fractured...I would euthanize.

 

[bobbi-j]

Do you think there is a chance her beak could realign with proper care?

I don’t know how it could without considerable pain to the hen. I wouldn’t attempt it, and my chickens don’t go to the vet.

 

[azygous]

In any medical emergency, and chickens have them as well as humans, we need to treat shock first before any other thing. Shock from nearly being killed by a predator and now intense pain from the beak injuries add up to life threatening shock. The easiest is to warm some Gator aid and syringe it into her beak very gently. Give a couple ounces every hour or two. Hydration is essential.You can use 81 grain chewable aspirin. Since there's lots of pain involved with beak injuries, I would dissolve it into the Gatoraid. You can give one whole aspirin two or three times a day spaced out.

Once you treat for shock and the aspirin has taken effect, I would assess her physical state. Try to get her to stand. Assess her strength to stand, her balance, and see if she can manage a couple of steps. If she is unable to accomplish any of these things, as @aart mentioned, she may have a brain injury. If that's the case, she will not recover.

The puncture wound already is guaranteed to have bacteria multiplying in the tissues. She needs to be on an antibiotic. If you have any left over prescriptions on hand, tell us what it is and what strength and we can help to figure out the dosage.

Trying to fix the injured beak at this early stage is not a priority. Stabilizing her and treating for shock and pain come first.

 

[RosemaryDuck]

In any medical emergency, and chickens have them as well as humans, we need to treat shock first before any other thing. Shock from nearly being killed by a predator and now intense pain from the beak injuries add up to life threatening shock. The easiest is to warm some Gator aid and syringe it into her beak very gently. Give a couple ounces every hour or two. Hydration is essential.You can use 81 grain chewable aspirin. Since there's lots of pain involved with beak injuries, I would dissolve it into the Gatoraid. You can give one whole aspirin two or three times a day spaced out. View attachment 2535602

Once you treat for shock and the aspirin has taken effect, I would assess her physical state. Try to get her to stand. Assess her strength to stand, her balance, and see if she can manage a couple of steps. If she is unable to accomplish any of these things, as @aart mentioned, she may have a brain injury. If that's the case, she will not recover.

The puncture wound already is guaranteed to have bacteria multiplying in the tissues. She needs to be on an antibiotic. If you have any left over prescriptions on hand, tell us what it is and what strength and we can help to figure out the dosage.

Trying to fix the injured beak at this early stage is not a priority. Stabilizing her and treating for shock and pain come first.

I agree with all of the above, though I do think the beak should take priority after she's stable. If it's not corrected early and it starts healing, it will heal in this position and be useless to her.

 

[Peggy3]

In any medical emergency, and chickens have them as well as humans, we need to treat shock first before any other thing. Shock from nearly being killed by a predator and now intense pain from the beak injuries add up to life threatening shock. The easiest is to warm some Gator aid and syringe it into her beak very gently. Give a couple ounces every hour or two. Hydration is essential.You can use 81 grain chewable aspirin. Since there's lots of pain involved with beak injuries, I would dissolve it into the Gatoraid. You can give one whole aspirin two or three times a day spaced out. View attachment 2535602

Once you treat for shock and the aspirin has taken effect, I would assess her physical state. Try to get her to stand. Assess her strength to stand, her balance, and see if she can manage a couple of steps. If she is unable to accomplish any of these things, as @aart mentioned, she may have a brain injury. If that's the case, she will not recover.

The puncture wound already is guaranteed to have bacteria multiplying in the tissues. She needs to be on an antibiotic. If you have any left over prescriptions on hand, tell us what it is and what strength and we can help to figure out the dosage.

Trying to fix the injured beak at this early stage is not a priority. Stabilizing her and treating for shock and pain come first.

Thanks—she’s able to stand and has walked but is lethargic. I have prednisone and aspirin on hand but that’s all

 

[azygous]

Have you treated for shock? Sugar in warm water plus a pinch of salt and baking soda if you have no Gatoraid or Pedialyte.