Upper beak overgrowing ....

[cate1124]

The upper beak of one of my speckled Sussex hens is growing for reasons I don't understand. She now has a serious "overbite" and the tip on the right side has broken off, though still overlaps the lower beak. She is of good weight and I feel food in her crop, so I know she is eating. Shall I intervene, say by clipping? I do not want to do more harm than good.

I'm baffled by this, as I have never seen such a thing develop later in a mature hen. (She is 6.)

 

[Eggcessive]

You can slightly trim the upper beak with dog nail clippers and a file. Do not get it too short since nerve endings are very sensitive. Make sure the chickens have a large rock or some concrete so they can rub their beaks on that. Here is one of many links about beak trimming:
https://www.hobbyfarms.com/trim-chickens-beak/

https://the-chicken-chick.com/repairing-chickens-broken-beak/

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

The beak is not suddenly growing for unknown reasons, the beak is no longer being naturally worn down / trimmed by the hen for some reason. Have you recently changed her environment in ways that may have eliminated her usual beak maintenance(pecking at/rubbing on stones is the most common)? Or have there been other changes around the time you noticed the beach starting to grow, such as flock dynamics, her activity levels etc?
In the short term, simple enough to just trim the end of the beat back a bit using any number of things from grinding with an item like Dremel or clipping with something like dog nail clippers.

 

[cate1124]

You can slightly trim the upper beak with dog nail clippers and a file. Do not get it too short since nerve endings are very sensitive. Make sure the chickens have a large rock or some concrete so they can rub their beaks on that. Here is one of many links about beak trimming:
https://www.hobbyfarms.com/trim-chickens-beak/

https://the-chicken-chick.com/repairing-chickens-broken-beak/

Thank you. It's odd that this has happened with her -- in a fairly short time -- and not the others, as where I live they have been outside fairly regularly this winter. I'm wondering about a disease process, as she has been not the most robust girl for a couple years -- she stopped laying at 4 -- and her comb does not look well oxygenated. She breathes heavily and she has long had mild rales. I massage her crop regularly as I read (here) a slow crop can back up and cause breathing issues. Last year it really seemed to help; this year not so much.

 

[FunClucks]

Sorry your hen is having issues. I keep cinderblocks in my covered run and set my 5 gallon feeders on them. They interact with the cinderblocks when pecking up spilled food, among other times. Here's the sharpest dog nail trimmers I have ever used - I trim nails with these, both dog and chicken, and they are awesome. Other methods can work too.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Sorry your hen is having issues. I keep cinderblocks in my covered run and set my 5 gallon feeders on them. They interact with the cinderblocks when pecking up spilled food, among other times. Here's the sharpest dog nail trimmers I have ever used - I trim nails with these, both dog and chicken, and they are awesome. Other methods can work too.

Those might risk beak splitting. Fingernail trimmers work better, with the medical nail trimmers typically used for baby nails being the best, as they are the sharpest. Those would be fine for their nails, but not really on their beaks, unfortunately.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Thank you. It's odd that this has happened with her -- in a fairly short time -- and not the others, as where I live they have been outside fairly regularly this winter. I'm wondering about a disease process, as she has been not the most robust girl for a couple years -- she stopped laying at 4 -- and her comb does not look well oxygenated. She breathes heavily and she has long had mild rales. I massage her crop regularly as I read (here) a slow crop can back up and cause breathing issues. Last year it really seemed to help; this year not so much.

How old is this hen? Have you had a lot of snow this winter? I have several hens who need beak trims due to the long winter and Pinless Peepers. Getting a overgrown beak like this is typically more of a sign that she hasn't been (or been able to) clean her beak. (It can sometimes be a sign of hairline crossbeak or other minor beak deformities, but sometimes you'll hear a lot of clicking and this would have been noticed long before now.)

Reading this, I'm leaning towards her being an older hen. She might be slowing down, and sometimes self care can suffer from that. The beak itself isn't a concern or really a sign of much, though she might need some help keeping it down if she's not taking care of herself.

With her crop, is she filling it before bed and completely emptying it by morning?

 

[FunClucks]

Those might risk beak splitting. Fingernail trimmers work better, with the medical nail trimmers typically used for baby nails being the best, as they are the sharpest. Those would be fine for their nails, but not really on their beaks, unfortunately.

These particular clippers are super sharp and cut through nails and beaks like butter. But I appreciate the concern - there is a risk of that, especially for nail clippers that compress instead of cut (most of the other ones I've tried). I also have a dremel, which can be used to round them and shape them