Trimming chicken beaks?

[JP Rooster]

The best thing to use is cat or dog nail clippers. Be sure you clip with the blade going away from their throat so you don't chip the beak at the end of the cut. Flush with bottom of lower beak. One stroke trim job. The dremel tool will work but i beleive it would buzzzzzzzz the brain......hahahahaha

 

[RaccoonRancher]

I had to take Sammy to the vet to have her top beak trimmed almost half the way off as her bottom beak is growing out to the left side and the......


I asked the vet about using a dremel file and he said not to because it will heat up too quickly and hurt the bird, that is why they don't use them when they have to do dental work on dogs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Vets sometimes will over exagerate to discourage self help.....No Vet uses a Dremel for dental work....The very same dental equpment used in human dentistry is used by vets in canine dentistry...High speed air driven, water cooled, or an electric micro motor built into a very small 1" thin handpiece......Dremels are way to bulky to hold for dexterity, and the dremel body itself will warm up from extended use...
.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Let's get to the soutions to trimming malformed & super sharp beaks.....A COARSE sandpaper fingernail file, the wide, 1/8" thick type,usually black like the pro's use works best....If Using any type of DOG or CAT nail trimmers, use only the DOUBLE SIDED CUTTING TYPE, which cuts from both sides....Not the style that has a hole in the blade & pulls down against a bar....that can split a beak.....It is VERY important that these nail cutters are sharp as new, not something old & dull....Feline & small dog nail trimmers are less than $8....Human TOENAIL clippers have larger openings than the tiny fingernail clippers, & have better leverage to cut being larger....any square cuts by clippers should be sanded & rounded with the fingernail file..... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Now For The Brave of Heart...THE DREMEL TOOL!!! Use ONLY the variable speed version on low speed.....You can plug a single speed into a sewing machine foot rheostat for the ABSOLUTE best results.....no loud high speed noise to scare your patient!!!..When everything is calm, right in position, COARSE Sandpaper tool exactly where you want it, slow speed is applied little by little, creating very little disturbance to the chicken.....PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT!...Familiarize the use of this setup!!! DO NOT JUST ATTACK YOUR PATIENT!!...Try it on a broken pencil, or stick, or small branch...at the VERY SAME ANGLES you will be working with...Would you want to be a students very first patient in a dental college??? ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~Now For The Actual Tools to Use....... .... .... .... ..I prefer a sandpaper disc,facing away from the motor or a sandpaper mini roll, which slips over a small diameter rubber mandrel...both have their uses...DO NOT USE ANY KIND OF STONE or metal burr! Stones get hot, & can clog up... and burrs are not forgiving if a bird moves fast.... I own hundreds of different styles of abrasive type burs & tools, & sandpaper works best in this scenario.....I can actually rebuilt beaks to prevent starvation, & have repaired & rebuilt turtle & tortoise shells from being hit by cars, pitchforks, & boat propellers.....Utilizing the new light cured compsite dental filling materials....I hope this helps all your birds........RR ....................................................ps...PM me where to send your Organic brown egg

 

[EternalOptimist]

So it looks like we are going to have to trim the old hen's top beak once a month. Amazing how quickly it grows. But it makes all the difference in the world for her. As the beak gets long and curves under she has a difficult time picking up food or even drinking. We are using a new cat's nail trimmer to clip the beak. The scissors kind with the hole in the middle and it cut smoothly and cleanly. One little snip and the job is done. The hen smacks her beak a few times afterwards and seems quite content.

 

[shellyjimrye]

We would clip the chicken's beaks when they started to peck others raw and bleeding. It does help. You have to keep an eye on them for when the beak grows out they can start to peck again but usually one clipping of the beak back and they then seem to forget that they used to be a "pecking assassin!"

 

[ittybit]

Hi, I have some 3 week old chickens. We've never had chickens before. We have one chick that pecks the others vents and eyes and makes them bleed. We have seperated this chick since it was 3 days old because of this. There is a screen between them so they can still see each other. Every day I put the chick back in with the others and watch, within minutes it is chasing the other's vents and pecking. So, I have to put it back into it's own pen. I see you clipped your chickens beaks, I'm just wondering if this could help and how to do it effectively so it can't peck but still eat and drink. any info would be great. thanks so much!!!

 

[capsicum]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Vets sometimes will over exagerate to discourage self help.....No Vet uses a Dremel for dental work....The very same dental equpment used in human dentistry is used by vets in canine dentistry...High speed air driven, water cooled, or an electric micro motor built into a very small 1" thin handpiece......Dremels are way to bulky to hold for dexterity, and the dremel body itself will warm up from extended use...
.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Let's get to the soutions to trimming malformed & super sharp beaks.....A COARSE sandpaper fingernail file, the wide, 1/8" thick type,usually black like the pro's use works best....If Using any type of DOG or CAT nail trimmers, use only the DOUBLE SIDED CUTTING TYPE, which cuts from both sides....Not the style that has a hole in the blade & pulls down against a bar....that can split a beak.....It is VERY important that these nail cutters are sharp as new, not something old & dull....Feline & small dog nail trimmers are less than $8....Human TOENAIL clippers have larger openings than the tiny fingernail clippers, & have better leverage to cut being larger....any square cuts by clippers should be sanded & rounded with the fingernail file..... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Now For The Brave of Heart...THE DREMEL TOOL!!! Use ONLY the variable speed version on low speed.....You can plug a single speed into a sewing machine foot rheostat for the ABSOLUTE best results.....no loud high speed noise to scare your patient!!!..When everything is calm, right in position, COARSE Sandpaper tool exactly where you want it, slow speed is applied little by little, creating very little disturbance to the chicken.....PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT!...Familiarize the use of this setup!!! DO NOT JUST ATTACK YOUR PATIENT!!...Try it on a broken pencil, or stick, or small branch...at the VERY SAME ANGLES you will be working with...Would you want to be a students very first patient in a dental college??? ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~Now For The Actual Tools to Use....... .... .... .... ..I prefer a sandpaper disc,facing away from the motor or a sandpaper mini roll, which slips over a small diameter rubber mandrel...both have their uses...DO NOT USE ANY KIND OF STONE or metal burr! Stones get hot, & can clog up... and burrs are not forgiving if a bird moves fast.... I own hundreds of different styles of abrasive type burs & tools, & sandpaper works best in this scenario.....I can actually rebuilt beaks to prevent starvation, & have repaired & rebuilt turtle & tortoise shells from being hit by cars, pitchforks, & boat propellers.....Utilizing the new light cured compsite dental filling materials....I hope this helps all your birds........RR ....................................................ps...PM me where to send your Organic brown egg

What grit do you use? Is a beak similar to a man's big toenail as far as sanding is concerned? If so I could just test different grits and wheels on myself with my battery powered Dremel knockoff [variable speed]. The sharpness of silicon carbide(carborundum) grit, somewhere between 100 and 320[yes it's a wide range], seems like it would be best.(not sure how course to go before causing vibration or a rough torn-fiber finish.

 

[NjoyMeant]

Thanks for the suggestion of the Dremel tool. Going to try that!

 

[Grace11]

Just last night, I trimmed my roo's overgrown top beak. I do believe his beak is deformed, the bottom is straight and does not match the curve of the top. One can see thru his non-meeting upper and lower. I caught this roo off the roost at night since hes basically wild and hates being touched. I had a cut portion of a sock ready to blindfold him-its cut just at the start of the heel coming from the sock toe (perfect size for a chicken hood). I have several and this one is for attending to a beak-a small snip just down from the toe provides a hood that has a place to stick the beak out and keep the rest of the head covered. Worked like a charm and kept him quiet. I just used big human toenail clippers, small amount at a time and shaping the curve of that upper beak and then used a big emery to smooth.
I have found that its VERY helpful to use a back lite when cutting toenails or beaks- you can SEE where the vein is and unless the bird moves at the wrong time, you can generally not have blood running. I hate when that happens.

 

[VillageFarmer]

Ok, I have read through all of these post and have decided that the best way to deal with my pullet's long top beak is to use nail trimmers and keep it trimmed to the same length as the bottom. BUT...she has another issue which I am not sure if it is related to the long beak issue or not. This pullet never wipes her beak off after eating like the other birds do. When I check in on them through out the day she always has crusted food across her noise and along the sides of her beak. She seams very grateful when I clean it off for her. She is the smallest bird (body size) in the flock and is a real loner, but her personality is very sweet, she is always the first one to meet me at the door and she follows me to the edge of the yard. Any ideas?

 

[ShortHenTallPen]

It would probably work. If the birds have access to dirt, or even a few concrete pavers they can use to sharpen their beaks, they shouldn't need a trim.

Awesome tip — just got our first pullets yesterday, and one needs a beak-trim. I'll definitely put some pavers in the coop for them so they can take care if their own beaks stress-free!