Is it humane to trim a beak, and if so, how would I go about it?

[MinervaTheHen]

Hello all. I recently bought four straight run assorted bantam chicks, who are about a month old now.

One of them (who I am affectionately calling Lucifer), started pecking the smallest of the four. I thought that if I gave them some time they would work it out, but eventually Luci drew blood, and I decided enough was enough. I moved the victim and another smallish one to a separate pen, leaving Lucifer and a fairly bold Brahma bantam to live together in the original pen. Well, Luci decided after thirty or so minutes that the Brahma wasn’t a friend either, and went after her too.

Now all three of the peaceful chicks and living together and Lucifer is all by him/herself. The poor thing has been screaming all evening, but each time I try to reintroduce the others, it gets bloody. I hate to isolate a chicken longterm, and I can’t think of any sort of happy future for Luci if this behavior continues. For context, food and water is ALWAYS available, their pen is an appropriate size, and I’ve been providing as much enrichment (scratch, salad greens, cat toys) as I can. All I can think is that this is just Lucifer’s personality.

I’ve heard a lot of horror stories about beak trimming, but it’s the only answer I can think of. I really don’t know much about it, so I’m not in a position to make a decision on my own. Does anyone here have a history of beak trimming? Would you recommend it in this situation? If so, how exactly should I go about it? The last thing I would want to do is hurt Lucifer (and isn’t that a strange sentence!).

Any answers would be much appreciated!

 

[MinervaTheHen]

This is the little devil:

 

[LaFleche]

What a cute little devil it is!

I would not cut the beak as this is extremely painful and mutilating but keep it separate but in sight of the others for at least a week or even longer.
In case it still attacks the others after being separated for a few weeks, rehoming would be one option, culling another.

ETA Just to add another option: In case you have an adult flock you could let Lucifer run with them and they will surely teach it some manners.

 

[Patiocoturnix]

https://www.googleadservices.com/pa...xu6wguGFAxUIgIQIHXYRA7IQwg8oAHoECAIQDA&adurl=

I’ve seen these in other threads I’ve never used them myself but I wonder if they would work out.

I would also try what Lafleche said and see if that works.

 

[MinervaTheHen]

What a cute little devil it is!

I would not cut the beak as this is extremely painful and mutilating but keep it separate but in sight of the others for at least a week or even longer.
In case it still attacks the others after being separated for a few weeks, rehoming would be one option, culling another.

ETA Just to add another option: In case you have an adult flock you could let Lucifer run with them and they will surely teach it

Thank you, I was worried that the procedure would be painful and I will definitely avoid it. No need to hurt the poor devil.

I do have an adult flock, full of very opinionated hens. I haven’t tried that yet because it’s still pretty cold where I am, nights in the low 20s and teens, and I was worried the cold would be too much. I suppose I could toss a heater or two into the coop and see how things go.

In a week or so I’ll try letting them make friends again, hopefully that will work out!

 

[MinervaTheHen]

https://www.googleadservices.com/pa...xu6wguGFAxUIgIQIHXYRA7IQwg8oAHoECAIQDA&adurl=

I’ve seen these in other threads I’ve never used them myself but I wonder if they would work out.

I would also try what Lafleche said and see if that works.

That is fascinating, I had no idea those existed! I think my birds are a bit too small for those now, but I’ll keep it in mind.

 

[wrathsfarm]

Just guessing cuz I'm no expert on Bantams, but it looks like Lucifer is a male to me.. that's a good size comb for 4 weeks old.

 

[MinervaTheHen]

Just guessing cuz I'm no expert on Bantams, but it looks like Lucifer is a male to me.. that's a good size comb for 4 weeks old.

I was thinking the same! The behavior would fit too—LOTS of chest puffing and angry little hops.
Also, he’s by far the most feathered out. Not sure if that means anything. I’m not a bantam person either

 

[NatJ]

Now all three of the peaceful chicks and living together and Lucifer is all by him/herself. The poor thing has been screaming all evening, but each time I try to reintroduce the others, it gets bloody.

Use a divided brooder: one big pen, with some kind of divider that they can see through but cannot go through. The divider can be hardware cloth, or a cooling rack swiped from the kitchen, or an old window screen, or a piece of chicken wire (but bantam chicks might be able to go through that), or plastic needlepoint canvas from a craft store, or anything else you can think of that will let the chicks see and interact but not go through and not get hurt. You don't want anything that is sharp or can tangle on the chicks.

This keeps the one chick from being lonely (it can see and hear the others), but stops it from hurting the others. It also gives the chicks practice at being near each other without picking. So the bully gets to practice living without bullying, and the victims get to practice living in safety and not acting scared. Some days or weeks of this will make a big difference in the behavior of some chicks. But in other cases, it does not make much difference, the problem start up again as soon as you put them together again.

I cannot tell for sure whether it will work to fix the pecking problem, but it should at least stop the screaming of one lonely chick.

I’ve heard a lot of horror stories about beak trimming, but it’s the only answer I can think of. I really don’t know much about it, so I’m not in a position to make a decision on my own. Does anyone here have a history of beak trimming? Would you recommend it in this situation? If so, how exactly should I go about it? The last thing I would want to do is hurt Lucifer (and isn’t that a strange sentence!).

The kind of beak trimming that is used for commercial chickens: I do not think you want to do that. That involves cutting into the part of the beak that had nerves and blood vessels. It makes a permanent change in the beak, as well as being painful to the chick.

But you could use a file to round off the very tip of the beak. The tip of the beak is like the tip of a dog's toenail or even your own fingernail: no nerves there.

A chicken's beak grows from the base, and the tip gets worn down as the chicken eats and pecks at things. The tip of the beak gets shaped and sharpened when the chicken wipes it sideways on the ground or the walls or other things.

If you use a file to round off the tip of the beak, it will be sharp again in just a few weeks (new material grows, old material wears away, the chick sharpens it.) But it will make the beak less dangerous for the next little while (days or weeks), will not hurt the chick, and will not have any permanent or long-term effects.

There are threads and youtube videos about trimming beaks for chickens with crossbeak (also called scissor beak). With those chickens, the beak does not wear down properly, so they need a person to trim off the extra length but not trim too far. The same ideas, and how to recognize the parts that are safe to trim, might be useful in your case if you want to temporarily blunt the end of the chick's beak.

 

[Shadrach]

Thank you, I was worried that the procedure would be painful and I will definitely avoid it. No need to hurt the poor devil.

I do have an adult flock, full of very opinionated hens. I haven’t tried that yet because it’s still pretty cold where I am, nights in the low 20s and teens, and I was worried the cold would be too much. I suppose I could toss a heater or two into the coop and see how things go.

In a week or so I’ll try letting them make friends again, hopefully that will work out!

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1166494/

Having read the article above you could consider this.
You can file the beak point rounder. It's not easy and a few strokes with a glass nail file every couple of days will take enough of the point off to make the results of pecking less sever. I've adjust a few beaks of Ex Battery hens these last couple of years. They had been so badly debeaked that a couple had trouble eating and others had new growth at odd angles that interfered with the proper functioning of the beak.