Two hens with injured beaks

[JC551]

We had a young hawk swoop at our run, and two of the chickens injured their beaks running into the hardware cloth in the panic.
The buff Orpington chipped off the end of her upper beak and lacerated her flesh near the nostrils.
The speckled Sussex also has a laceration, and appears to have a crack or fracture on the top of her beak.

My instinct is to clean the scabs and apply ointment, and monitor. Does anyone suggest otherwise?

 

[Regina Larsen]

We had a young hawk swoop at our run, and two of the chickens injured their beaks running into the hardware cloth in the panic.
The buff Orpington chipped off the end of her upper beak and lacerated her flesh near the nostrils.
The speckled Sussex also has a laceration, and appears to have a crack or fracture on the top of her beak.

My instinct is to clean the scabs and apply ointment, and monitor. Does anyone suggest otherwise?

I think yr instinct is correct. Poor girls!

 

[JC551]

We caught part of the event on our security cameras, wish the angle and resolution were better. You can see what happened to the Orpington.

 

[Sueby]

I recently had the same thing happen & (my bad) I googled it & panicked when I read everyone saying she would die, lol.

They'll be fine, it'll just grow out. My girl never missed a beat, ate & drank fine. I did give her a deep bowl of water & a mash, but she didn't even need it.

Here's the post with pics & advice from another member who had the same thing:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...k-survivable-with-pics.1494052/#post-24922293

It's been just over a month or so now & it's almost completely grown out, just a very teeny bit left to grow, a fraction of an inch.

 

[JC551]

I recently had the same thing happen & (my bad) I googled it & panicked when I read everyone saying she would die, lol.

They'll be fine, it'll just grow out. My girl never missed a beat, ate & drank fine. I did give her a deep bowl of water & a mash, but she didn't even need it.

Here's the post with pics & advice from another member who had the same thing:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...k-survivable-with-pics.1494052/#post-24922293

It's been just over a month or so now & it's almost completely grown out, just a very teeny bit left to grow, a fraction of an inch.

Oh wow, thank you.

 

[Sueby]

You're welcome.

The hawks are killing me right now too, I have one that sits on the posts & gate to my run & stares at the littles & makes them lose their minds. He seems to be looking for a way in, which, hopefully, he'll never find.

& then my big girls keep asking him to hang out, they're fascinated.

 

[JC551]

You're welcome.

The hawks are killing me right now too, I have one that sits on the posts & gate to my run & stares at the littles & makes them lose their minds. He seems to be looking for a way in, which, hopefully, he'll never find.

& then my big girls keep asking him to hang out, they're fascinated.
View attachment 2888672Oh wow. Mine are all first year. 5 hens panicked, one tried to intimidate the hawk.

 

[Sueby]

At least yours have some sense! & your run looks pretty secure from what I can see.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

We had a young hawk swoop at our run, and two of the chickens injured their beaks running into the hardware cloth in the panic.
The buff Orpington chipped off the end of her upper beak and lacerated her flesh near the nostrils.
The speckled Sussex also has a laceration, and appears to have a crack or fracture on the top of her beak.

My instinct is to clean the scabs and apply ointment, and monitor. Does anyone suggest otherwise?

For the Orpington, I would gently smooth down and round the jagged edge of her beak with a nail file.

The other injuries are minor. For something like that I rarely even bother with cleaning or applying ointment - dirt and feed will stick to the ointment. The injuries are already scabbed over and protected. Should heal fine without any intervention.