Rescue Girl with questionable broken beak or malformation

[MagicMarcy66]

Rescued a Rhode Island Red girl from our next door neighbor who released their flock to be eaten by the coyotes. Well to say the least I had to play nice, but this is so angering.

I'm attaching pictures of Little Lady's beak. I could go on about these 3 chicken but for now I'll stick to this issue.

Her lower beak is split from the tip to the neck and will attach pictures. Not sure if it's a deformity. The previous owner said they were purchased from a hatchery and they were not pets.

Let me know what you think. She eats and drinks and has good body girth. I'll be deworming in a few days. They have had no human interaction and that will change, and the wife is just glad I will be treating them like pets.

Magic Marcy66

 

[staceyj]

She looks quite bright despite her challenge!

Let’s ask some people to come take a look.

@Texas Kiki @WVduckchick @azygous @Pyxis

 

[staceyj]

Ps. Many blessing for you in rescuing these girls.
They will bring you a lot of joy.

 

[staceyj]

@Texas Kiki do you know of anyone who’s ever tried a beak repair with the 2 part epoxy and mesh like they use of turtles?

 

[Kiki]

I have not seen a beak split like this before. I doubt there is anything you can do to fix it...if she is eating good I'd say that is a good sign.

 

[Kiki]

@Texas Kiki do you know of anyone who’s ever tried a beak repair with the 2 part epoxy and mesh like they use of turtles?

No ma'am...but I will look now.

 

[Kiki]

Unfortunately this member hasnt been online in a while so we can find out how her bird is.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/split-bottom-beak.1145598/

 

[staceyj]

I’d file a bit off the top beak to keep it from hitting the tip of the right sided segment of the bottom one.
Can you see in that second picture I think it was , from underneath, where it’s worn down by repeated contact with the top?

Excellent pictures by the way!

but I don’t know if I’d alter the bottom by filing at all because to do so might make it more fragile and susceptible to breaking.

 

[staceyj]

To me this looks like either an injury from very early on or a defect.

She does seem to have done quite well despite it.

She might benefit by eating mash which is simply chicken feed soaked with water. Think chicken mush.
Or oatmeal. My chickens think it quite de-lish.

I do think it could be improved upon however with a bit of shaping of the upper beak.

 

[azygous]

Yes, great photos! They really provide a lot of information. She appears to have a slight scissor beak deformity, so I'd imagine the split lower beak is part of the genetic defect.

Also, I noticed what appears to be dried blood at the confluence of the two parts of the lower beak where it might be from the lower beak portion on her left hitting or snagging on things, causing injury. Beak injuries are quite painful, by the way, due to a generous blood supply and nerve endings.

For this hen to appear this vibrant and healthy, I would guess she has adjusted to her deformities pretty well. You can try filing the upper beak tip down a tad, but if you hit the quick, boy, will you be sorry! And the hen would end up being in a lot of extra pain.

If she were mine, I'd probably leave things alone. I feed my whole flock moist fermented feed, so she would have mostly mushy food. As with any being that has been saddled with a deformity and resulting limitations, it's probably best to leave them to find their own way to deal with it. And this girl appears to be doing quite well in that department.