SOS! Part of Chicken's Top Beak Fell Off Leaving Exposed Fleshy Underside

[shaila]

In your spot, I'd first gently clean up both the beak and her feet of any dirt, applying a thin layer of antibiotic ointment to the beak, then set her up in an living area that can be kept relatively sanitary until that spot naturally closes up. It may help to give her chick crumble if mash incites more scratching. If that's still too irritating, give her water with supplementation like Nutridrench until solid food is tolerable.
As the damage is just to the tip, most of her beak is still intact, I doubt she'll have any issues once she's past the risks of infection and, potentially, overly curious flock mates.

To help with the problems of scratching, you could trim her nails to be rounded as much as is safe or see if you can get some claw caps and try fitting those on.

 

[coach723]

Maybe try letting her eat til she's done, pick up the food then. Let the beak rest (maybe gently wipe with a soft cloth gently to keep her from rubbing it). Repeat every hour or so, or every couple of hours if that's not long enough, maybe that will let the tissue dry up some and stop the repeated bleeding. I would think by the end of the day, that will have hopefully stopped.

 

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

In your spot, I'd first gently clean up both the beak and her feet of any dirt, applying a thin layer of antibiotic ointment to the beak, then set her up in an living area that can be kept relatively sanitary until that spot naturally closes up. It may help to give her chick crumble if mash incites more scratching. If that's still too irritating, give her water with supplementation like Nutridrench until solid food is tolerable.
As the damage is just to the tip, most of her beak is still intact, I doubt she'll have any issues once she's past the risks of infection and, potentially, overly curious flock mates.

To help with the problems of scratching, you could trim her nails to be rounded as much as is safe or see if you can get some claw caps and try fitting those on.

Great ideas. I'm worried if I put neosporin on it she will wipe and scratch at that, too. I've been spraying her beak with vetericyn. And giving her a break from food so she can get a good scab to set and dry.

I just spoke with my vet. He also recommended dry crumble to see if that keeps her from scratching her beak. But to wait a few more hours before introducing food again. Will the exposed quick eventually harden and heal with time, even though it doesn't have a beak over it? I'm hopefully the beak portion will eventually grow back.

 

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

Maybe try letting her eat til she's done, pick up the food then. Let the beak rest (maybe gently wipe with a soft cloth gently to keep her from rubbing it). Repeat every hour or so, or every couple of hours if that's not long enough, maybe that will let the tissue dry up some and stop the repeated bleeding. I would think by the end of the day, that will have hopefully stopped.

I like this. In a few hours I'll try dry crumble just to see if that works and prevents the wiping/scratching. Otherwise back to mash--which I prefer because it's hydrating, too. And she hasn't had much water at all. I hope her beak heals quickly and is less painful soon.

My vet is not keen on abx and metacam--yet--because they may not be warranted and force feeding them could cause more harm than good. So we are just hopeful she'll do some quick healing the next 24 hours--at least enough to stop the recurring bleeding and get her nutrition back up.

 

[coach723]

The exposed part will dry up and harden, this might take several days, but the bleeding should stop soon, I would hope in the next 24 hours to a point that it isn't an issue anymore. Once it's all dried up it will be much less uncomfortable for her, and she will probably return to much more normal behavior.

 

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

The exposed part will dry up and harden, this might take several days, but the bleeding should stop soon, I would hope in the next 24 hours to a point that it isn't an issue anymore. Once it's all dried up it will be much less uncomfortable for her, and she will probably return to much more normal behavior.

I needed to hear this. Thank you.

She's not actively bleeding unless she scratches herself (which hasn't happened since this morning). I'll try feeding her later this afternoon and hope for less aftermath.

 

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

@coach723 @shaila @Chicken poppy An update: I just went down to see if I could get her to eat dry feed (crumble) from a deep bowl. She did--in a weird way where you could see her tongue squiriming lol. She even was able to pick out sunflower seeds and oats from the feed.

I made the mistake of giving her water after she had some bites of food, but after that she started getting dry crumbles stuck to her beak and wanted to scratch/wipe it. I pulled them off but from then on she was unsettled, likely hurting, and wouldn't eat or drink anymore. Next time: food first, water only at the end.

She also kept shaking her head a lot, flinging clear fluid from her nostrils--which was weird. I wonder if she's just getting used to the sensation of getting food down her beak and throat, and maybe it feels funny or is getting stuck. Thankfully the liquid she flung around wasn't blood. I'm hoping the more time goes on the less likely she'll bleed--even when scratching at it and such.

I let her be after this because she seemed stressed. I'll try again in a couple hours and hopefully get more into her. She's gotta be thirsty and hungry

 

[Earthdale]

I would try hobbling her some what like you do when a chick has splayed legs, that should stop her scratching it.

 

[GravityWaves]

I had the same thing happen with my rooster and he didn't seem to want any dry food for a while, likely because it was so tender. Almost like poking a cavity in your tooth or something.

Maybe try letting her eat til she's done, pick up the food then. Let the beak rest (maybe gently wipe with a soft cloth gently to keep her from rubbing it). Repeat every hour or so, or every couple of hours if that's not long enough, maybe that will let the tissue dry up some and stop the repeated bleeding. I would think by the end of the day, that will have hopefully stopped.

This is good advice. Also, I didn't see if she was separated or not but you don't want the others pecking at the blood on her beak and making it worse.

 

[Chicken poppy]

@coach723 @shaila @Chicken poppy An update: I just went down to see if I could get her to eat dry feed (crumble) from a deep bowl. She did--in a weird way where you could see her tongue squiriming lol. She even was able to pick out sunflower seeds and oats from the feed.

I made the mistake of giving her water after she had some bites of food, but after that she started getting dry crumbles stuck to her beak and wanted to scratch/wipe it. I pulled them off but from then on she was unsettled, likely hurting, and wouldn't eat or drink anymore. Next time: food first, water only at the end.

She also kept shaking her head a lot, flinging clear fluid from her nostrils--which was weird. I wonder if she's just getting used to the sensation of getting food down her beak and throat, and maybe it feels funny or is getting stuck. Thankfully the liquid she flung around wasn't blood. I'm hoping the more time goes on the less likely she'll bleed--even when scratching at it and such.

I let her be after this because she seemed stressed. I'll try again in a couple hours and hopefully get more into her. She's gotta be thirsty and hungry

Hopefully she heals up nicely!

Try sticking to wetter foods, like mash. Softer for her to chew.