quail with injured beak

[lauramacf]

So, one of my hens somehow injured her beak. We saw the blood first and isolated her, finally figuring out that the blood was coming from her beak--but it took a few days to realize that the beak was actually cracked and now we can really see that the top of the beak is now crooked from a long lengthwise crack.

Anyone ever had such a problem before, and any ideas on treating this? We did rub some antibiotic ointment on there once. She seems okay, but we'll probably keep her isolated from the others for a while.

 

[thatchickenlady]

I have seen this before. If the crack goes up the bill very far, it will be difficult and could get worse. A vet could do something, but the cost for this would be really too high...

 

[macnugget]

If you can see the crack clean it off and use superglue to keep it together it will be fine in a few days. They heal quickly we use superglue for cuts as well in the ER

 

[_Randall_]

Quote:
Are you serious?? LOL.......I've heard it all now. (not that I don't believe ya!). I'da never thought that would be the appropriate thing to do!! But, I'll have to remember that one.

 

[PetersonD]

It is interesting how super glue or a product more of a medical grade is sometimes used to stop bleeding, used in place of sutures, etc. If it were my bird, I'd probably carefully super glue it as he mentioned. But it may not work out satisfactorily in the longer term and there are some other possible drawbacks. When applying the super glue to a cracked beak, I think one would need to make sure not to accidentally glue the upper and lower parts of the bill together, etc. I want to make clear that I am not recommending this to you, only that I personally might do it to save on veterinarian costs if the bird was important to me. http://www.avianweb.com/brokenbeaks.html

 

[lauramacf]

Thank you all for responding, I didn't actually get back here to read your comments until just now (and wow, is this board ever busy!)

The quail with the beak injury seems to be healing on her own, though it is now a bit crooked. This poor quail seems cursed. Thanks to all who gave advice!