Significant injury to hen's beak

[pecanpiepuppies]

Just went outside to give my gals a treat and discovered my 29 week old cochin with some major damage to her beak. I've had other hens occasionally damage their beaks... But it has always been very slight and no cause for concern. But sweet Opal has somehow detached almost all of the entire outer layer of her beak and it's only hanging on by a thread leaving the inner part of the upper beak exposed (see pics).

My questions are these... 1) should I leave the damaged part just hanging on or clip it off and 2) can she remain with the others in their coop while it heals (provided the blukote works and they don't bother the wound) or do I need to take her out for a while and keep her in a crate so her beak stays clean to prevent infection? I'll be applying Vetericyn multiple times a day regardless of where she is housed.

Thanks for any all help...

 

[Eggcessive]

I would probably separate her for a day or so until I could supervise her with the others to see how she gets along. Here are a couple of good sites on beak repair:

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2013/01/repairing-chickens-broken-beak.html
http://www.avianweb.com/brokenbeaks.html

 

[Mychickendrew]

This happened to my rooster. He is my baby boy cause I hatched him myself and we have this inseparable bond so I brought him inside. Just to check on him, he had a lot of bleeding so i lightly dabbed it for an hour or so with a cloth, to keep it from getting in nose. I watered his food so it was mush, his beak was really weak and he refused to eat unless I made the pellets into a mush. (picky boy). It has been about 3 months now and it has grown back. But you definitely have to baby them for a while. Try not to let her over use it since it is weak. The way I thought about it is that its kinda like a finger nail, it falls off sometimes.

 

[BantamLover21]

I would isolate her in a clean place. Give her soft, easy to eat foods, but try to keep her from using her beak too much. What appears to have happened is that the outer layer of the beak has been torn off; it will grow back eventually and she'll be normal again. I would wait a few days to let it dry up/heal, and then try and clip off the broken part. Other than that, just keep it clean and make sure other chickens don't peck at her.