short beak!!! please help!

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i got 2 new chickens recently and they had both got really short blunt beaks. one of them has grown back and is fine but the others still seems quite short and she sometimes struggles to pick up or food of the floor or out of my hand, we keep food in dishes for them but they prefer to find their own. what should i do to help her till it grows back? ( they were previously kept in a barn so i assume the beaks were kept blunt to avoid pecking in such a small confind area)

 

[Imp]

You can try keeping a deeper dish of food available so she can scoop up food.

Good of you to take them in

Imp

 

[DancingHen]

I think you the deeper food dish idea is good. Also, have you tried wetting her food with a little water so it is easier to pick up? If you try this be sure to give her small amount that you don't leave out for long, as it could mold quicker. Just thought maybe some wet mash might be easier for her to scoop up rather than little pieces that roll around. Wishing you luck. So glad they have a good home with you now.

 

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well they do quite like soggy brown bread which we give them to fill them up a bit - often sprinkled with grit cos they dont get enough of it otherwise, i also try to give them fruit too which they love such as grapes and halved orange - which they all love!! though it took our new 2 a while to figure out which bit they were supposed to eat, they kept going for the white bit and the skin.i hadnt thought of giving them it in deeper dishes, though i had to use a deeper dish the other day as the others were dirty and i found that she ate it a lot easier so thats probably why. thanks a lot for the advice!

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Sounds like they ground down the beaks. I had a bunch that we took in like that. Mine were not chicks but were laying hens. They do not free range well. I only have one or two left because the foxes kept getting them before I got a LGD. They were fearless and I could not keep them near the barn. They adore free ranging.
I always make sure that the feed bowls are filled enough for them to scoop out the mash. I also have a few raised ones to help them out. I do not feed pellets but I am sure the crumbles, pellets or mash would be easy if food is kept in a deep dish.