Not an emergency—prognosis for cracked beak

[BantyChooks]

This is a Coturnix quail, not a chicken, so there's no way I'm going to be tubefeeding it. I found him this morning with half of his upper beak cracked off at the nose. The other half is still firmly attached and trimming it seems a pretty awful thing to do. Plus, I think I'd end up fracturing his face by accident, he's so small. I think he's two months old? Not full grown yet. I'm not that attached to him, and I was going to cull him when I saw the injury, but I figured I'd give him a chance. I think he can drink, and he is interested in food but I haven't seen him get any down. I would dampen the feed, but I am worried it'll paste over his nostrils like it did to the last quail I tried that with. Do you think he can recover fully and eat without assistance if he loses this much of his beak? Will he be able to breed if he can't grab the hen by the neck? I've dealt with smaller beak injuries on chickens, but this seems pretty extensive. I don't want to put a lot of time and effort into fixing him if he will die anyway.
As a side note, I have no idea how this happened. I swear these quail seem to be able to kill themselves in a padded room.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

Wow that is a major break. Any idea how it may have happened?
Can you push the cracked beak back into place? Does he seem to be in pain when you touch the beak? What’s the plan for him long term?

 

[BantyChooks]

No clue. They're in a widely-spaced wire pen.

No, the blood clots prevent it from moving back into place, and it seems almost bent on the other side. He struggles and vocalizes if I attempt to touch it. Depending on how many of his siblings are males, he would either be a backup male for breeding or get culled in a month or two for meat.

 

[BantyChooks]

He is still unable to eat this morning, and I am rather doubting that even if that broken portion comes off he will be able to get crumbles far enough down his throat to swallow. I'll probably cull him tonight.

 

[clucking with my chicken]

Hi as iv raised quail before I suggest taking him to the vet and getting him check out.
Don’t put him down I think it’s very cruel and bad for killing an animal for it may survive

 

[SurferchickinSB]

He is still unable to eat this morning, and I am rather doubting that even if that broken portion comes off he will be able to get crumbles far enough down his throat to swallow. I'll probably cull him tonight.

Yes, I think it’s a good idea to cull him now because I don’t think he would be able to put on weight enough to cull him later and it just seems like he would suffer.

 

[BantyChooks]

Hi as iv raised quail before I suggest taking him to the vet and getting him check out.
Don’t put him down I think it’s very cruel and bad for killing an animal for it may survive

I have no vet available that would see quail.

 

[BantyChooks]

Yes, I think it’s a good idea to cull him now because I don’t think he would be able to put on weight enough to cull him later and it just seems like he would suffer.

I agree. I don't want to do that again—I had a quail with impaired vision that died just last week despite my best efforts to keep it well fed. I felt bad that it struggled for that long only to die.

 

[SurferchickinSB]

Yeah, I don't want to do that again—I had a quail with impaired vision that died just last week despite my best efforts to keep it well fed. I felt bad that it struggled for that long only to die.

I hate to see animals have to suffer. I think you would be right to cull him now rather than extend his suffering.

 

[BantyChooks]

I tried dampening his food this morning but he was still unable to eat. If he was larger, he might have been able to, but it's hard to let him grow longer when he can't eat right now.