Is my chicken's beak overgrown?

[sherylwelch]

Hi everybody. I was wondering if this is normal/ok. I've noticed that the "clear" part of the beak is really long (or looks like it to me) but I dont know for sure if this is fine or normal length. She doesnt seem to be bothered by it yet, though. But I kind of think that she would eat/drink better if it was shorter. She kind of splashes water/sends food flying all over the place and also rubs her beak on stuff a lot and I dont know if its because of her beak. And also, I noticed yesterday that the tip looks chipped and if you look really close there's like cracks and I'm worried that they might get longer like when you break a nail and it would bleed. Im really worried about it. She is 3 months old.
Thank you so much from me and Maple.

 

[PeepersMama]

Aww, she's so cute!

It doesn't look like her beak is overgrown. Alot of my chickens beaks look about that length, and they don't have any problems. When she scrapes her beak on stuff she is just cleaning it off, but that is one way the beak wears down naturally. The color might be confusing you, too. Her beak color is called horn, which is basically kind of a striped pattern of browns and yellows. It doesn't look like it's cracking. Also, the messy eating could be due to the crest and the muffs, or she could just be a messy eater

If you are really concerned about it (you know your chicken), and it looks like she is very much tame, you could file off some of the tip with a nail file. Or you could clip it off with nail clippers, just be careful not to cut off to much.
Hope this helps!

 

[sherylwelch]

Thank you so much Mama! This makes me feel so much better about it. If it looks like it keeps growning (maybe?) I might try to file it down a bit but Ill just leave her alone for now!!!

And it's so cool that different beak colors have names!! By tbe way Maple says "thank you" for calling her cute!!

 

[PeepersMama]

She looks almost exactly like one of my girls except for the crest, which just adds tons to her cutness factor

Glad I could help!

 

[sherylwelch]

Haha. Nice! She got it from her mom! (Not me, but her "real" mom. Lol). Mapley is half silkie!