My chicken baby isn't eating

[Ragna]

I have a road island red and she's been inside a cage during the day because of the heat (I live in florida) so I let them sleep and stay inside during the day and let them out at evening for a few hours so they can explore. She has a partially broken beak which is more like an underbite than a severe injury IMO... She seems to always be hungry and she's always crying and will walk up to me and be very noisy. I usually feed her crushed things but since I ran out of the feed ive been trying to feed her things like instantly mash flakes but she doesn't seem to want to eat anything but I don't want her to starve. I don't think she's sick or anything because she tries to eat but I was wondering if maybe she's actually able to eat the pellets that I feed my other chicken an I just never see her. I love my chickens to death and I worry about them a lot. <3 I love them so much. Here' a picture of her beak.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BjpBNUAj-ky/

 

[azygous]

Many of us here on BYC consider chickens to be living, breathing, charming, and lovable creatures and we go out of our way to protect them from harm and suffering. But most commercial operations consider chickens to be little more than commodities, and even some folks here treat them solely as livestock for food, not pets.

Commercial operations in the US could invest in the sort of infrastructure where chickens have enough room to co-exist peacefully, and the de-beaking wouldn't be necessary. But that would cut into profits and it's not a trade-off most are willing to make. Here's one of my favorite videos of commercial chickens in New Zealand that have a good life. My heart soars when I watch this.

 

[azygous]

Do you have time to clean her beak and take a new photo and post it? This time select the Full Size Image.

Is her beak still bleeding? How long ago did she injure the beak? It appears to be broken off well beyond the blood supply, indicating it may not grow back.

If you are on friendly terms with your dentist you could ask them for a tiny bit of dental acrylic to put on the end of her beak to seal it off against infection and pain. Be aware that another reason she won't eat is due to her beak being very painful.

You might also consider tube feeding her until she regains her weight and she can eat again on her own.

 

[Ragna]

It's too late for a vet to do anything for the beak. She and her others hens were probably debeaked as chicks. It's an extremely painful and cruel operation where the beak is electrically burned off and the blood vessels cauterized. The beak will never be able to grow back.

She is likely in no pain from it now, but she will have a difficult time eating anything but moist food.

Thank you I really appreciate the help. I don't think people realize how much I've fell in love with my hens. I spend a lot of time with them outside and we search for bugs and worms whatever we can find

 

[azygous]

That beak is seriously damaged. It's no wonder she doesn't eat. She can't easily pick up pellets with her damaged beak. You can help her by giving her moistened feed. If you're just feeding her mashed potatoes, she's going to have serious nutritional problems.

The beak may grow back if it's not broken off into the quick. How old is she? Her comb looks like she hasn't reached point of lay yet.

 

[Ragna]

That beak is seriously damaged. It's no wonder she doesn't eat. She can't easily pick up pellets with her damaged beak. You can help her by giving her moistened feed. If you're just feeding her mashed potatoes, she's going to have serious nutritional problems.

The beak may grow back if it's not broken off into the quick. How old is she? Her comb looks like she hasn't reached point of lay yet.

She's a little over 14 weeks I think... I have been feeding her poultry feed but in a crumble form because she seemed to be able to eat that a little easier... I didn't think to moisten it that probably would have helped too. I give them vitamins every couple of days but the past few days she's been trying to eat mostly the crumbled scraps of feed in the backyard. I tried to feed her cream corn because it's very soggy but she didn't seem to desperate to eat anything I was trying to feed her... It broke my heart because I fed them both before I left for work and she just looked at what I put down in excitement cried a little bit and walked away to the back of the cage as if I was intentionally starving her... Between the crumbled and the potatoe flakes she has to be eating SOMETHING right?? Or she'd be dead?? It breaks my heart so much that she cant eat properly and I try to feed or all different types of things... It feels almost like she thinks I'm the one responsible for her being hungry or like I'm making her suffer when I love her soo much. I don't want to come home and find her dead. She's the sweetest little chicken I've ever met... Im worried about her right now.. she should be able to eat the flakes though right with her tongue??

 

[Ragna]

Do you have time to clean her beak and take a new photo and post it? This time select the Full Size Image.

Is her beak still bleeding? How long ago did she injure the beak? It appears to be broken off well beyond the blood supply, indicating it may not grow back.

If you are on friendly terms with your dentist you could ask them for a tiny bit of dental acrylic to put on the end of her beak to seal it off against infection and pain. Be aware that another reason she won't eat is due to her beak being very painful.

You might also consider tube feeding her until she regains her weight and she can eat again on her own.

 

[Ragna]

Do you have time to clean her beak and take a new photo and post it? This time select the Full Size Image.

Is her beak still bleeding? How long ago did she injure the beak? It appears to be broken off well beyond the blood supply, indicating it may not grow back.

If you are on friendly terms with your dentist you could ask them for a tiny bit of dental acrylic to put on the end of her beak to seal it off against infection and pain. Be aware that another reason she won't eat is due to her beak being very painful.

You might also consider tube feeding her until she regains her weight and she can eat again on her own.

 

[Ragna]

Do you have time to clean her beak and take a new photo and post it? This time select the Full Size Image.

Is her beak still bleeding? How long ago did she injure the beak? It appears to be broken off well beyond the blood supply, indicating it may not grow back.

If you are on friendly terms with your dentist you could ask them for a tiny bit of dental acrylic to put on the end of her beak to seal it off against infection and pain. Be aware that another reason she won't eat is due to her beak being very painful.

You might also consider tube feeding her until she regains her weight and she can eat again on her own.

I got her like that.. I saved her from our families slaughter house. I love the animals to death and I decided to take some chickens home and that's how I found her. They're free range apparently... The batch of Road Islands were all like that so I'm not sure what they did to them. Before we took them to our warehouse. She doesn't seem to be in too much pain in general... She cries when I come near her or pick her up -_- I just love her so much and she doesn't understand. Other times she's runs over to me or is up to snuggle with me but she definitely isn't as chill as my other chicken. But sometimes I can hear her cry like crazy and my other chicken thinks it's me so she'll start pecking at me. I give her the space she deserves but our chicken/human flock is a bit dysfunctional

 

[Ragna]

But I'm not sure if she's in pain or hungry