Rooster beak broken, how do I feed him?

[Angie8eggs]

Makes me so happy to read this post!!!! I was actually just thinking about you and your rooster the other day!

 

[Maggies Momma]

Wow, how time goes by so quickly. It's hard to believe that this incident happened almost a year ago. Here's an update on Henry and our entire flock:

For those of you who were following Henry's progress, I have good news.
Henry has had a fair recovery, meaning his beak is back and a little overgrown so we will be re-shaping it this weekend. He has learned to function very well even with the mis-shape. (It overlaps to the side just slightly). His leg has gone completely lame, however, he hops around very well.
Over the past year, our son raised enough money by returning bottles and cans to purchase new chicks this Spring. Because it was his money, he chose what to purchase. Travis our barred rock roo was keeping Henry holed up in our main coop over the Summer and Winter, so we put Henry in our brooding coop and it's fenced yard with the new chicks. Henry is very happy there and has really shown his protective nature with them.

Recently, he began to crow again in competition with the Roos down the road from us. The chicks are growing very rapidly and we now notice that at least three of them are roos as well. Go figure.... Well, with that being said, Henry is still top Roo and holds his own when competing for food and water.

We knew there was a 50/50 chance of a roo with our Banties, but not with the Auracanas. At least 2 out of the 3 Auracanas are roos, 1 of our 2 Banties is a roo (my husband named him "Road Runner" because he is quick, stealthy and can hold his own against the Auracana roos. Nobody messes with him. His crow is funny. It sounds like you are trying to start a very old lawn mower.

Because we have over 9 acres of property, we have plenty of room to separate all of the roos if they become territorial with each other.

Currently, our large flock is diminishing rapidly as well as their egg production. (We went from 2-doz eggs per day down to 6 eggs total each day). Last summer the Red Tailed Hawks took at least 6 and most recently we think to mites and flys. Two weeks ago my husband and I completely pressure washed the entire coop, top to bottom with water, then a diluted bleach solution; which I am now finding out that the bleach really won't help with the mites.

We dried it out (Hot day) and dusted every corner and perimeter inside, placing straw on the floor. Over winter (2012) we had switched from straw to hay for the nesting boxes but quickly found out that the hay holds in moisture, creating a perfect environment for mold growth and for flys to lay eggs.
We have lost two hens within the last two weeks, most recently two days ago, she was only 2 seasons old; purchased the spring of 2011. There were no obvious signs of trauma or injuries and she didn't have any pungent odors from her mouth or vent area. I'm very puzzled about her.
Today, I will be checking our entire flock of old hens for mites, gleet, and scale mites. Twice a year, we give them pumpkins with shredded carrot, the pumpkin guts and pressed garlic cloves. We are fairly certain that they have no harmful internal parasites because we do this.
Our son will be making wood ash to spread around the interior of the coop and for the nesting boxes. We will also put some in their favorite dusting spots in their yard. This means a lot of burning yard debris and tree branches as we have a fir tree that we felled last winter and the hens have about a 1/2 acre of yard space. They are also free rangers with no restrictions for coming in and out of their coop. They have an automatic watering fountain (bowl) outside and can eat pellets when they want from their feeder in the coop.
I think I'm going to go with the advice from all the OT's to put out more water bowls around the yard just in case someone is bullying by the water fountain.

Once we have eradicated the problem, we will consider a transition of the new chicks to the main yard and coop. In the meantime one step at a time and following the advice of the OT's.

 

[lizmcd]

Hi I have a rooster that grew up with a bad leg. He was fine when he was younger but he injured it when he was young and it grew very wrong. He dose the same thing Henry dose. Hopps around and uses his wings for balance. I was wondering if you maybe knew how to clean their beacks. He has dirt built up around his nostrils I guess if chickens have those. I have never seen him wipe his beack like the girls. Maybe baby wipes ?? Any idea. And oh my goodness so glad Henery is doing well. Those dang old other mean roosters

 

[Maggies Momma]

Hi Lizmcd,
What we did for Henry; because he had a lot of dried blood on his beak especially around his nostrils, was used a warm, damp wash cloth to wipe his beak. Eventually he began to wipe his beak as it healed.

I'm wondering how long has your roosters beak been building up dirt? Is it recently or has it been going on since he was young?

Is he the only rooster in your coop/yard or are there more?

Our son purchased some new chicks this past Spring. We placed Henry in a separate yard with a separate coop and the chicks. He bonded with them right away and they always stayed near him. During the night; because he can't roost, he slept next to the roost while most of the baby hens roosted and others gathered around him and snuggled.

Now all of them are in the main coop with our seasoned hens and roosters. Henry stays in the coop and his little harem stays very close by. He hops around the coop and even manages to balance on one leg with the lame one extended to balance and drink water. He rarely touches the floor with his wings to balance anymore.

 

[lizmcd]

I think it has been building up over some time. This is the first time I've ever owned Chicknes. They deff have my heart. I love watching them in the yard. Never knew they were so smart and funny. I know it sounds a little crazy but his name is Brother. Idk how it started but that's his silly name. My son is 12 and
last night helped hold him while I cleaned his Beak.
We used q tips and a baby wash rag. He just set and let us clean him up.
Even though he has the bad leg he never let's it stop him. He gets in the coop at night with the girls and the coop is high off the ground. I have another silly question if you don't mind. How many roosters can
you have ?? I have three speckled Sussex hens and Brother. Then I have a cochin rooster and hen. They are much smaller than the speckled sussex. I let them all out during the day to free range the back yard.
I'm just kinda concerned about brother because of his leg and not feeling dominate because of the Cochin. They all are my babies and I could never get rid of any of them.

 

[Maggies Momma]

Hi,
That's wonderful your son helped you. Ours just turned 13 yesterday and he is afraid to hold the chickens when any maintenance or care needs to be tended to.
Okay, to answer your questions about roosters. I understand that a Cochin is similar or can be a Banty with feathered legs. Out of our most recent addition to our flock, both of our Banties turned out to be roosters. The feather legged one was very aggressive and chased everyone around. Also, three of our Auracanas ended up being roosters as well. We found out a few weeks ago that the breeder sent the wrong shipment to them and they were not sexed. Two of those Auracanas were not getting along (One kept violating the other; mounting) we made the decision that these two along with the Banty had to go. We sold them and never regretted it.
Currently we have 4 roosters: Travis a very big Barred Rock (Gentle and doesn't attack our family

), Henry the Auracana, Road Runner a very spunky Banty, and Moldy a black mottled Auracana. My husband named them all except Henry. All of these roosters get along very well except Henry and Travis. Travis became a bully and territorial once Henry became injured. Currently we can't separate them because Henry's yard will be excavated soon to improve and enlarge it making it more Henry friendly.
Our flock is quite large about 37 hens with the 4 roosters. I feel that as long as the roosters are all getting along and they aren't injuring hens they belong together. If the roosters are mounting a hen one after the other trying to show dominance, then they need to be separated or sold because they will cause severe injury or death to the hen. We have had this happen.
If everyone gets along, then no need to worry. I don't recommend any more roosters. I'm not sure what the ratio is but you have four hens for two roosters. That can be quite stressful for the hens depending on the behavior of the roosters. If Brother is being picked on, you may need to separate them or consider selling the Cochin.
It is difficult to do, but you need to keep your flock happy and as stress free as possible.

 

[lizmcd]

Thank you so much for giving me your time. I thought about what you said and yes My Cochin is very possive of the girls and honestly they aren't his girls. They are Brothers. I got him the Hen cochin for company and possibilty chicks later on. I tried
introducing him when he was younger but the girls just beat him up that's why I got the hen. He dose try constantly to mount the girls in fact one of them is missing some of her feathers from him constally
bothering her. He dose this funny little sideways dance
and kinda steps sideways twoard them. It's funny to
Watch. Poor brother tried when he was younger with the girls but he just can't because of his bad leg. Infact today the cockin had got into a fight with brother and had him stuck between the fence and a large boganvilla. I was so upset I had to crawl under the plant and pull brother out. He just can't really
defend him self. I have been letting the girls and brother out in the yard and keeping the meanie put up. I have two different coops. One for the four And one for the girls and Bro.Then switching them out into the yatd. I love my little boy cockin. We've been threw alot. He was very sick when I got him and almost died on me. He's very attached to me. Follows me everywhere and let's me hold and love on him. I hate to get rid of him. He's actully my sons lol.. I would love to have everyone together in one place.

 

[K Epp]

I was reading this because one of my turkey's has some how broken the end of her beak off. Great story.

 

[Christy Carter Patterson]

My little girl Nugget lost her upper and lower beak last year in a fight with a raccoon. After going to the vet, he told me that she probably want make it. Well, I took her home, put her in my closet with bedding and the nursing began! I cooked oatmeal, grits, soaked fresh bread in buttermilk, grinded grass with some worms (yuck) but I felt she need the protein, put vitamins in her water and antibiotics. I fed her in deeper bowls so she did not have to peck or bump her face on the bottom of the dish (about 1in deep), She did great and is now top of the pecking order... Although she can only lick!! lol I didn't know chickens have tongues. I kept her in side for about 2 weeks.

Hi there. I just read this post and a couple things first off our little girl nugget just lost her beat to a raccoon. We are about two weeks in and she just completely lost the bottom part as it turned all black and fell off. There is still some blacktop beak left. It actually hinders more than it helps. I just saw your recipe for what you fed your chicken and I'm going to try the same thing. Ours got very very thin. Can you let me know how everything worked out? How is she getting on?