Missing upper beak

[arazla]

Hello, One of my neighbors chickens that frequents our yard is missing her upper beak. She is looking quite ruffled and sad. There is blood & tissue, but it's not bleeding profusively. I called my neighbor and no one will be home until after work. The hen is still eating normally as far as I can tell. I should mention that all his chickens come over here because they seem desperate for food and water, so perhaps hunger is outweighing the pain. Is it safe to spray a little Vetercyn on her with exposed tissue like this? I know it's not really my chicken, but at this point, we are sort of their defacto guardians all day long until they go home to roost (that's another issue I'll have to address later). In the meantime, wondering if there's anything I can do to aid the healing process or provide comfort.

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you post any pictures? Vetericyn or saline is very good to use on the beak. Eating crumbles from a high sided bowl or pan or mixing some very wet mushy chicken feed is easier to take with a beak injury. Don’t be surprised if she is in a lot of pain for a few days. If her beak is totally missing, she will probably die from dehydration and starvation unless she is tube fed. We had a chicken back a few years ago in a thread here who lost her entire beak, and the owner was able to tube feed the hen for a few months until she learned how to eat.

 

[RadEggs]

Hello, One of my neighbors chickens that frequents our yard is missing her upper beak. She is looking quite ruffled and sad. There is blood & tissue, but it's not bleeding profusively. I called my neighbor and no one will be home until after work. The hen is still eating normally as far as I can tell. I should mention that all his chickens come over here because they seem desperate for food and water, so perhaps hunger is outweighing the pain. Is it safe to spray a little Vetercyn on her with exposed tissue like this? I know it's not really my chicken, but at this point, we are sort of their defacto guardians all day long until they go home to roost (that's another issue I'll have to address later). In the meantime, wondering if there's anything I can do to aid the healing process or provide comfort.

Does he not feed them enough? You should check on that if you don't know him that well. From a distance, with no knowledge of him, other than that his chickens are hungry and thirsty during the day, but this could be abuse. (I am talking about the chickens being hungry during the day) I know this is not helpful for the injury, but something just made me stop, so I had to mention it just in case.

 

[arazla]

Does he not feed them enough? You should check on that if you don't know him that well. From a distance, with no knowledge of him, other than that his chickens are hungry and thirsty during the day, but this could be abuse. (I am talking about the chickens being hungry during the day) I know this is not helpful for the injury, but something just made me stop, so I had to mention it just in case.

Yeah, it's a real problem. I don't think he feeds them enough, and we've seen issues with his other animals having water or even adequate shelter in the middle of winter, which has caused a lot of tension between us. On the other hand, his chickens do seem fairly healthy and some are even fat, though they could still be malnourished. They are nice people, just overwhelmed I think. He's been reported before, not by us, but it's a tricky situation because we're in the country and we all rely on each other here occasionally when the weather is brutal etc.

 

[arazla]

Can you post any pictures? Vetericyn or saline is very good to use on the beak. Eating crumbles from a high sided bowl or pan or mixing some very wet mushy chicken feed is easier to take with a beak injury. Don’t be surprised if she is in a lot of pain for a few days. If her beak is totally missing, she will probably die from dehydration and starvation unless she is tube fed. We had a chicken back a few years ago in a thread here who lost her entire beak, and the owner was able to tube feed the hen for a few months until she learned how to eat.

I'll see if I can get a picture of her. From the the way it looks, I can't even believe she is actually eating, but she seems to be.

 

[Eggcessive]

Do you think a dog or a raccoon may have torn or broken her beak? Do you have chickens or poultry as well?

 

[arazla]

Can you post any pictures? Vetericyn or saline is very good to use on the beak. Eating crumbles from a high sided bowl or pan or mixing some very wet mushy chicken feed is easier to take with a beak injury. Don’t be surprised if she is in a lot of pain for a few days. If her beak is totally missing, she will probably die from dehydration and starvation unless she is tube fed. We had a chicken back a few years ago in a thread here who lost her entire beak, and the owner was able to tube feed the hen for a few months until she learned how to eat.

Well, I couldn't find her again. I think she wandered off. Or hopefully went back to her coop.

 

[arazla]

Do you think a dog or a raccoon may have torn or broken her beak? Do you have chickens or poultry as well?

Yes, I called her owner and that's what he conjectures. They have 18 birds including 2 turkeys. Theirs are sometimes cooped up and sometimes entirely free ranging, like now. The problem with complaining too much is then they will most likely be cooped up and their run for the chickens is rather small in my opinion and there won't be enough water. The turkeys have an even smaller pen. We have two flocks of 6 chickens and 3 new girls we are trying to integrate. On the other hand, this is hard because the neighbor's chickens invade all the runs and coops when we're trying to usher one of our flocks in or out. So it's confusing everyone.

 

[Eggcessive]

It sounds like a difficult situation. It would be difficult to limit the spread of a disease or parasites between the 2 flocks. With new chickens to learn where they are to return at night, I usually confine them inside the coop for a wekk, 24/7. Turkeys can be rough on chickens, I have heard.

 

[arazla]

That's a good suggestion. So when I transition the new girls in completely, just don't let anyone out for a week? They are still sleeping in separate quarters. We're at the meet-and-greet through the mesh tent phase. But I think seeing all these other chickens running through their coop makes it confusing to know who is the intruder and who is actually going to become a flock members. Right now, my chickens are running off everyone, although lately one of my 2 flocks has given up. I know some people put new chickens on the roost at night, but I don't think that would work with my main, original flock because they all grew up together.

The turkeys are used to being around chickens and seem to want to be part of the group, though sometimes they do puff out their feathers or peck to intimidate others out of the way. A few of the chickens can be jus as aggressive and give them a run for their money.