Scissor-Beak Chick

[Tiny Turtle]

Oh no, I could never cull my chickens, even the thought of her passing on saddens me, thank you for the help though. I'll be sure to post and update about her one day. Thanks again.

 

[Folly's place]

She may be following you around because she's very hungry all the time, and waits for you to fill the feeders so she can eat. Undersized/ underweight is malnourished, not good. If you want her to do well, she may need separate digs with special feeders, always topped off, and a small group of other birds so there's no competition. If that's not possible, watching her starve isn't a better option. Sorry, but that's my take on this situation. Mary

 

[Tiny Turtle]

I would love to do more to help her, honestly. I believe she has started to follow me more often because when she was younger (unlike the other chicks she was raised with), she was kept inside with me for a bit because she had received a wound, so she had much more human interaction with the others. Yes, it is possible that she is coming up to me for food, and I don't WANT to watch her starve, but I wouldn't be able to cull her whatsoever. I am a student so I don't have too much time to tend to them during the day but I'm trying all I can for her. Would love to have a separate area for her and her friends so she can eat better, but I don't think it is possible in my situation, she appears happy to me and when I try to separate her for food she is more interested and running off with her friends. At this point I am just hoping they older hens allow them to eat and allow them to join them, but that takes time.

 

[Folly's place]

I'm glad that she seems to be getting enough to eat, because it's really hard for her. Good for you! Mary

 

[Figaro3413]

I opened the coop this morning to let my 3 flock members out and this is how one of them looked. Do chickens beak peal or is she injured? Not sure how. I was about to bring her to the vet when the top piece of her beak fell off. Has others experienced this? She's eating and moving around. Is she okay?

 

[Jensownzoo]

I opened the coop this morning to let my 3 flock members out and this is how one of them looked. Do chickens beak peal or is she injured? Not sure how. I was about to bring her to the vet when the top piece of her beak fell off. Has others experienced this? She's eating and moving around. Is she okay?

Beaks are covered with a layer of keratin (think fingernail) over bone--it looks like that layer has come off. Maybe trauma, maybe something more unusual. Having the bone exposed like that is going to be really painful and leaves it open to infection. Definitely worth a vet visit in my opinion.

 

[azygous]

Chickens could write a book on a thousand ways to get into trouble.

Since the outer layer of the beak has broken and fallen off, I doubt a vet will be useful in this situation. What I would do is get some Vetericyn spray if you don't already have it. Spray it on the exposed under beak layer several times a day and then smooth on some triple antibiotic ointment.

Beaks often grow back, but I've never seen this before. It could grow back the missing layers of keratin. Or not. At the very least, it will harden in time, and she should be fine. If she has trouble eating, offer her moistened food or ferment it.

You need to come back and give us an update and let us know what the beak ends up doing.

 

[shortgrass]

You might have success fermenting their feed. I have an EE with crossbeak, and she always looked thin before I started fermenting. Now she's one if my best layers, and actually the lead hen. Fermenting will help the whole flock, and since they're all eating the same thing, there's no need to seperate her or her food from the rest