Over grown beak?

[Frosty]

I tried to search for this but the search feature isn't working for me right now...

I have a peahen that is going on 4 years old. Last spring her upper beak looked a bit long, but during the summer it looked fine. Now it curves down and overhangs the lower beak by about 1/2". I'm assuming it would be a good idea to trim it? What would cause this? It's just her, the two males look fine...

 

[featherhead]

Usually they wear their beaks down rooting through the ground and wiping their beaks on stones and perches. I have a 20-yr-old male whose beak needs to be trimmed nearly every fall. If your hen's beak gets too long, one of two things can happen. It can grow so long that she won't be able to eat. (In the wild, some of these birds starve to death.) If she breaks it off, there's a chance it can break/crack too close to the blood vessels and nostrils. Personally, I would suggest trimming it. Use a dremel tool - it works great and takes about 5 seconds if you have someone to hold your hen for you. I bought a battery-powered dremel just for this purpose because it isn't as loud as the electric one. What perplexes me is that this usually only happens to older birds, usually over age 12 or so. At any rate, never trim the top shorter than the bottom. Is your hen eating/drinking okay? Is she thin? I noticed that my male would get a little thin just before his beak was trimmed, so he gets his trim every October if he needs it. If you can get a photo, I'd love to see one. Thanks.

 

[Dany12]

It is widely accepted that birds are able to taste everythings with the taste buds they have in the tip of the beak .

http://projectbeak.org/adaptations/senses.htm

 

[Yoda]

I had a young bird with that problem. I used my dog nail clippers on it. They look like pliers so one simple snipe and all was well. Funny thing it was just the one time. Was told to give them oyster shell and it never happened again. Don't know if the shell had anything to do with it not returning or not, but it was a one time thing.

 

[Frosty]

I was planning to use the dog nail clippers... probably the ones with a hole and a sliding blade. She is in with the chickens where they have oyster sheel and grit available. I wonder if the snow and mud is causing a problem for her? With as much snow and rain as we got in the last few years, the ground is totally saturated.

 

[Yoda]

No do not use that nail clipper! Mine looks like a pair of pliers with two cutting blades. It cuts like scissors, the one you have could crack the beak because it only cuts from one side while the other end is crushing it. Here's some pics of the nail trimmers I use not only on my birds but my pets as well.

 

[featherhead]

If you choose to use clippers rather than a dremel, only use bypass cutters like yoda recommends. Anvil cutters can split the beak, and you can't fix that. VERY dangerous.

 

[Chickem707]

This happened to my disabled chick too, is it because she can’t forrage? What should i do?

 

[casportpony]

This happened to my disabled chick too, is it because she can’t forrage? What should i do?

You can cut the tip off.

 

[Chickem707]

You can cut the tip off.

With what? Won’t it bleed?