Please Help! Injured, Bleeding Beak

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

Hi all, we just noticed that our RIR ("Willow") has a cracked and chipped beak (two different spots). It's hard to capture but she had a crack down the side and a little chunk taken out at the top. It looks like it had been bleeding pretty good, since her beak was caked in old blood (and at that point there was still some new blood--thankfully it seems to have stopped). We noticed our other chickens trying to nip at it so we've brought her in and she's now resting in our makeshift chicken hospital.

I've noticed she's having trouble eating (shows interest but doesn't clamp her beak down enough), and I'm guessing it's because she's in pain . She's also seeming a little dazed or almost like she wanted us to come take her out of there. She is getting around fine.

Anyway, I've added water to her feed and we cleaned her beak with peroxide. I can't tell if she's bleeding from inside her beak, or if it's older blood that had run down from the top. A couple questions:

1. Can this type of injury heal on its own with regular cleaning?
2. Should we in fact keep her separated? When should we reintegrate her? We're worried about her having issues after this. She had previously been close to the top of the pecking order.
3. Does this warrant a trip to the vet?

Below are a few pictures. Any advice will be so much appreciated. We want to make sure we're doing everything we can to help our sweet girl mend.

 

[coach723]

It should heal. The break will gradually grow out and eventually the beak will look normal. Once the bleeding is stopped I would just leave it alone. You can put a dab of plain neosporin or plain triple antibiotic ointment on it. I would not glue it, I would only do that to a beak that had a piece hanging off. Once it's dried up you can put a dab of blu-kote on it to help prevent others from pecking at it, if it's still red. They are likely going after the blood, the red blood draws pecking. It may be very sore, so doing as you have and making a mash out of the feed by mixing with water will help. Raise feeders and waterers up some so she can scoop with the lower beak better. She will have difficulty picking things up from the ground until it's not so tender.

 

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

It should heal. The break will gradually grow out and eventually the beak will look normal. Once the bleeding is stopped I would just leave it alone. You can put a dab of plain neosporin or plain triple antibiotic ointment on it. I would not glue it, I would only do that to a beak that had a piece hanging off. Once it's dried up you can put a dab of blu-kote on it to help prevent others from pecking at it, if it's still red. They are likely going after the blood, the red blood draws pecking. It may be very sore, so doing as you have and making a mash out of the feed by mixing with water will help. Raise feeders and waterers up some so she can scoop with the lower beak better. She will have difficulty picking things up from the ground until it's not so tender.

Thank you for the reassurance. This is our first flock and our first injury, so I'm probably panicking more than necessary. Would you say it's okay to hold off taking her to the vet to see how the wound is healing? It hasn't been bleeding since last night, and I've since washed it and applied antibiotic cream. She's been eating okay, albeit a little awkwardly.

 

[coach723]

From what I can see in your pictures, I wouldn't think a vet is really necessary. I would NEVER tell some one not to take their animal if they think they should!! But it appears to be fairly minor (I've seen much, much worse) and should heal up and grow out. That will take some time, beaks don't grow real fast. Those kind of injuries are often from putting their beaks through wire trying to get something on the other side, or sharp edges on feeders or waterers. Beak injuries usually do just fine, even the really awful ones, but if you were to see any signs of infection, then that would be different. It's probably going to be sore for a few days, if she got it stuck and was pulling hard, then really sore, so I would just keep an eye on her to make sure she's eating and drinking well. You could start weighing her regularly, just to make sure she doesn't lose weight, a digital kitchen scale works well.
Here are a couple examples of much worse injuries, there are some graphic pics:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/help-broken-beak-on-8-week-old-pullet.1265730/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/hen-brutally-attacked-by-dog-emergency.1183160/page-3

 

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

From what I can see in your pictures, I wouldn't think a vet is really necessary. I would NEVER tell some one not to take their animal if they think they should!! But it appears to be fairly minor (I've seen much, much worse) and should heal up and grow out. That will take some time, beaks don't grow real fast. Those kind of injuries are often from putting their beaks through wire trying to get something on the other side, or sharp edges on feeders or waterers. Beak injuries usually do just fine, even the really awful ones, but if you were to see any signs of infection, then that would be different. It's probably going to be sore for a few days, if she got it stuck and was pulling hard, then really sore, so I would just keep an eye on her to make sure she's eating and drinking well. You could start weighing her regularly, just to make sure she doesn't lose weight, a digital kitchen scale works well.
Here are a couple examples of much worse injuries, there are some graphic pics:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/help-broken-beak-on-8-week-old-pullet.1265730/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/hen-brutally-attacked-by-dog-emergency.1183160/page-3

Thank you again for being so helpful. I can't tell you how appreciated it is

We picked up vetericyn and blu-kote. We'll start with the former, and in a couple days, if she's healing well, we'll put some blu-kote on and get her transitioned back into the coop/run with her friends--I know that's where she wants to be!

 

[aart]

How did this turn out?

 

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

How did this turn out?

Really well We kept Willow in for four days to ensure her beak was healing up well, wasn't going to break off, and that her appetite was good (/not indicating any pain when trying to eat). We used vetericyn 2x a day during this time. We then put her back in with the flock and transitioned to using blu-kote until her wound all but disappeared. I can't recommend either of those products enough--she healed up so nicely, and with no interest from the girls (AKA the little cannibals).

The transition back was kind of heartening. Our littlest EE hen was a bit of a relentless bully--talk about "tunnel vision"--but the other hens rallied around Willow and were very protective. Also, the last time the EE went for Willow we intercepted her up and (gently) dunked her in a shallow pan of water. This seemed to embarrass her out of pursuing the bullying further. They are now all BFFs again.

Since then we have had a minor comb injury (again resolved by blu-kote), heat stroke, and a diagnosed heart murmur. No losses yet, though I know it's comes with the territory. Talk about baptism by fire!