Scabs on beaks- should we treat or just let it heal?

[tickens33]

So, I'm not sure if this came from establishing the pecking order or if they hurt their beaks on the hardware cloth. The injuries seem completely scabbed over, so I'm wondering if we should bother trying to treat it or if it's already healing.

We never had any aggression in our flock until the last couple weeks when we expanded their outdoor space. It seems like they are fighting for control of the new space, if that's something chickens do? We've never seen them actually make contact in an aggressive way, just posturing and stomping and flaring out feathers.

We have 4 Orpingtons and 3 Wyandottes. As far as we can tell, only 3 of the 4 Orpingtons have the scabs on their beaks, and none of the Dots do. So maybe the Orps are the ones who are getting pecked.

The pictures attached are by far the worst one, the others are much more mild and not raised like this. I can attach pictures of another hurt chicken if anyone wants to see. I am pretty confident it's an injury and not fowl pox based on comparing pictures, but I dont have the experience to know for sure. Thanks very much in advance for any advice provided

 

[GlicksChicks]

Wyandottes are very assertive while Orpingtons are very docile. It is expected for them to be in the bottom of that pecking order. I would let it heal since it is already scabbed over.

 

[tickens33]

Wyandottes are very assertive while Orpingtons are very docile. It is expected for them to be in the bottom of that pecking order. I would let it heal since it is already scabbed over.

Thanks so much for replying so quickly! So it does look like a scab to you?

We mostly can't tell the Orpingtons apart, but we can tell this particular one apart because she's much smaller than the others. This is not the first time that we've observed her with a (suspected) pecking injury. The first time we caught it when it was fresh, so we put antibiotic on it right away and it was completely healed by the next day. This looks a bit more severe so I wanted to get some extra advice. Much appreciated that you took the time!

 

[GlicksChicks]

Thanks so much for replying so quickly! So it does look like a scab to you?

We mostly can't tell the Orpingtons apart, but we can tell this particular one apart because she's much smaller than the others. This is not the first time that we've observed her with a (suspected) pecking injury. The first time we caught it when it was fresh, so we put antibiotic on it right away and it was completely healed by the next day. This looks a bit more severe so I wanted to get some extra advice. Much appreciated that you took the time!

It looks like a scab to me. A Wyandotte probably grabbed the face and pulled. My rooster has recovered from injuries worse than this with no help on his comb and waddles when we tried to introduce a new roo to the flock.

Just keep an eye on it and make sure the other chickens don't pick at it and make it worse.