Someone cut my rooster’s beak! 😡😭

[NatJ]

A little update on Eagley’s beak situation.

It’s now healed over and seems to be bothering him a bit less. He’s still struggling with some foods and is grooming himself less, but he seems more himself.

A tricky thing is it seems to be regrowing now, but only at the sides! You can see it in this photo - the white bits that protrude from his top beak down to overlap the bottom one are new.

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This is a lot of beak growth in a short time so I assume it’s in response to the horrid cutting, but I can’t see this coming together to make a comfortable shape for him. Hopefully I’m wrong - nature can be amazing at finding a way, after all.

A beak grows from the base, just like your own fingernails do.

It is usually pointed at the tip because the chicken rub it on the ground and other things ("honing" the beak).

The rooster probably has not been honing his beak while it is sore. As it gets longer and less sore, he will probably go back to doing it.

I expect he will have a perfectly normal beak again in a few months.

I’m just really hoping he doesn’t end up needing regular stressful beak trims because of this whole stupid situation.

I would watch for a while and see. If it quits being sore, but he does not shape it properly himself, you might need to do it once or a few times with a file. But I'm pretty sure he will be able to go back to maintaining his own properly shaped beak as time goes on.

 

[McChooky]

Eagley is my hand-raised rooster of mystery heritage. He’s a sweetheart with people he knows but can be territorial towards new humans.

He lives in my neighbour’s flock but he’s very much MY rooster. I visit him most days and we sit together for hours.

Yesterday I went down and was met with this:

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Worse still, his chest feathers were all stained with blood.

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He was unable to eat any of the treats I’d taken him like sweetcorn, and had an empty crop. I assumed he must have injured his beak somehow so I took him home for some first aid and messaged my neighbour to let him know what had happened.

He replied to say his friend “Bruce” had done it “to stop him attacking people” and that “he should be ok soon”!

There is honestly SO much for me to unpack and sort out here, but my immediate concern for Eagley is - will it grow back?
I’ve had ex battery hens who had been clipped and their beaks never regrew. How far is too far?

Currently he can only manage very soft food like scrambled eggs and pellets made into a super wet mash. His tongue comes out a lot when he eats - I don’t think the pictures show just how bad this is tbh
Is that likely to improve? He’ll adapt, right?

I’ve sterilised the wound and the bleeding has resolved. He isn’t showing any severe signs of pain but birds are so sneaky about hiding it… do you guys think I should be giving him any pain relief?

Thanks in advance for any advice or experience you can share.

It appears your neighbor has a very different opinion about your rooster than you and has a zero tolerance for him attacking anyone. I fear what he'll do to this rooster the next time he attacks anyone. You would be wise to visit him often to make sure he's cared for properly and doesn't disappear.

 

[stargirl]

It appears your neighbor has a very different opinion about your rooster than you and has a zero tolerance for him attacking anyone. I fear what he'll do to this rooster the next time he attacks anyone. You would be wise to visit him often to make sure he's cared for properly and doesn't disappear.

Absolutely. His wife is the compassionate bird lover, but she’s away at the moment so I’m seeing a different side to the husband.

She was really angry when she found out what had happened!

She and I had a chat, and Eagley is now locked away in his own private coop + run within the larger paddock, so still around the other birds but safe and secure. No risk of attacks, and I visit daily to change his food and let him out for a wander and a snuggle.

I’ve also instructed Eagley to go right for the eyeballs if anyone ever tries anything like this on him again.

 

[stargirl]

A beak grows from the base, just like your own fingernails do.

It is usually pointed at the tip because the chicken rub it on the ground and other things ("honing" the beak).

The rooster probably has not been honing his beak while it is sore. As it gets longer and less sore, he will probably go back to doing it.

I expect he will have a perfectly normal beak again in a few months.


I would watch for a while and see. If it quits being sore, but he does not shape it properly himself, you might need to do it once or a few times with a file. But I'm pretty sure he will be able to go back to maintaining his own properly shaped beak as time goes on.

Ah this is hopeful! Thank you!

It totally makes sense that he won’t have been shaping it as usual - I hadn’t thought of that. Definitely not going to mess with it at all unless it begins to impede him in any significant way.

I used to have a budgie who needed regular shapings with a dremel due to fatty liver disease, but I don’t think Eagley would be quite as co-operative somehow!

 

[stargirl]

That is awful, I feel so bad for the poor boy

Me too. I’m so glad I got down there and found him when I did, because the thought of him alone and suffering makes my heart hurt too much.

 

[McChooky]

Me too. I’m so glad I got down there and found him when I did, because the thought of him alone and suffering makes my heart hurt too much.

I don't think your neighbor has much confidence in your rooster settling down otherwise they wouldn't have cut his beak to prevent him drawing blood. I hope they don't decide to cut his spurs without telling you.They can bled badly if they cut more than the very tip.

 

[Vicktoria Giuergia]

I'm so sorry about your baby! That's just plain wrong in my opinion. I don't believe the beak will grow back unfortunately if it drew blood... in time he should adapt. It won't be immediatel though- over the next few weeks I would try adding less and less water to the feed to see if he can manage more solid foods. The eggs are good for him either way though!

If you can get ahold of some, I would give him Colloidal Silver (2mL of 250ppm- 500ppm is safe too, just half the dosage.) It's completely safe for humans and all animals and it'll boost his immune system and help fight any possible infections from the wound. I've given it to parrots, quail, chickens, geese, dog and cats and it has always helped. I'm not too sure what could be given to help reduce pain though... I would just try to keep him comfortable

Wait....your rooster is on someone else's property attacking people? I'm sorry this happened but it could have been much worse and you would have no legal recourse. I have family in a somewhat (I assume) similar situation where they have an open fence between two big properties where animals from both sides were allowed back and forth. Until one rooster got mean and my family's rooster had his neck snapped by the neighbor. Now the gate is closed between the properties.

I still think it's wrong for anyone to harm any animal. If he had a behavior problem shouldn't the owner be notified rather than take action on their own?

 

[McChooky]

I still think it's wrong for anyone to harm any animal. If he had a behavior problem shouldn't the owner be notified rather than take action on their own?

Notifying her wouldn't have prevented him from attacking anyone else in the meantime and unfortunately he wasn't put in a pen by himself before they cut his beak. I'm guessing they wanted "insurance" before they agreed to keep him there.He's less inclined to bring blood by pecking anyone with a blunt beak.

 

[BelovedBirds]

Notifying her wouldn't have prevented him from attacking anyone else in the meantime and unfortunately he wasn't put in a pen by himself before they cut his beak. I'm guessing they wanted "insurance" before they agreed to keep him there.He's less inclined to bring blood by pecking anyone with a blunt beak.

I believe options were suggested after the aggressive behaviour, and the owner was laughed at and told it's fine. Then he did this.
Completely unacceptable to do this to an animal.

 

[PippinTheChicken]

Just read this thread. Poor boy. Hope he gets better. He's gorgeous too.
It's disgusting to harm any animal, even if he does attack people, it was still wrong.