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

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

Yesterday I believe my chicken Willow got her beak caught in hardware cloth and panicked. I heard a commotion, came out to see what happened, and she was standing there dazed, the first quarter or so of her top beak hanging by a fleshy thread. She bled a lot, so I took her to the vet.

The vet got it to stop bleeding in a couple hours then made the decision to try and superglue it back. All seemed well until she came home and immediate scratched her beak, causing it to come undone and hang, bleeding profusely again. While trying to get the bleeding to stop, it fell off, maybe for the best. Unfortunately, there is still a fleshy, bare part of her beak left that isn't protected and is what keeps bleeding.

It clotted really well yesterday and this morning she even ate some mash and drank. But then: she went and scratched herself. The bleeding started again, and while it stopped rather quickly, she's clearly in pain--and I'm worried this will keep happening.

How do I keep her from scratching at it? She'd been without food or water for a little less than 24 hours until she ate and drank a small amount this morning--then she opened it up again. Now I only have water down there for her. I don't know what to do. Should I have her fleshy part removed entirely? Or, will it still eventually heal with her occasionally scratching and opening it up? I can't bear seeing her keep bleeding on and off. But I have no idea how to keep her from doing this.

broken piece--it has a little of the soft tissue underside but clearly not all of the soft tissue came off with the break--hence the remaining flesh she keeps tearing open.

 

[coach723]

If you don't have blood stop powder on hand you can use cornstarch, flour, or turmeric (the kitchen spice) powder to help stop the bleeding. Feed her moistened feed/mash and water in deeper, open dishes, and raise them up on something, that way she can scoop with her lower beak. It's going to be really sore for a few days, then will dry up and harden off. Once that happens it will be much less painful and she'll likely leave it alone then. It's a small bit, so most likely the beak will grow back over time. Beaks grow slowly.

 

[Chicken poppy]

Not to sure what to do now, but feed her softer foods for sure. Sorry for your girl, i have had experience with some bloody and shattered beaks, but never this severe. Hope she gets better soon

 

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

If you don't have blood stop powder on hand you can use cornstarch, flour, or turmeric (the kitchen spice) powder to help stop the bleeding. Feed her moistened feed/mash and water in deeper, open dishes, and raise them up on something, that way she can scoop with her lower beak. It's going to be really sore for a few days, then will dry up and harden off. Once that happens it will be much less painful and she'll likely leave it alone then. It's a small bit, so most likely the beak will grow back over time. Beaks grow slowly.

Even though she keeps scratching and reopening the exposed quick, will it still gradually heal? I was reluctant to have mash out with her, since it seems she wants to scratch her beak after eating it. She's still a bit stunned and clearly in pain.

Also, some have told me to use medical grade superglue to create a barrier over the exposed quick? I've read mixed things, but do you think that'd help?

Thank you.

 

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

Not to sure what to do now, but feed her softer foods for sure. Sorry for your girl, i have had experience with some bloody and shattered beaks, but never this severe. Hope she gets better soon

Thanks for the kind wishes My only other experience with this was... well.... with the same darn chicken! Lol. When she was a pullet she basically did the same thing (3 years ago)--and I thought THAT was bad (it was only an omen for worse to come, I suppose). She needs to stay away from hardware cloth.

 

[Chicken poppy]

Even though she keeps scratching and reopening the exposed quick, will it still gradually heal? I was reluctant to have mash out with her, since it seems she wants to scratch her beak after eating it. She's still a bit stunned and clearly in pain.

Also, some have told me to use medical grade superglue to create a barrier over the exposed quick? I've read mixed things, but do you think that'd help?

Thank you.

My advice would be to avoid her getting her beak super dirty til it heals up more if possible. Because its a bit more open, i just would rather be safe then sorry.

 

[coach723]

I would not glue it. The issue with glue is that you can seal bacteria in. You can try putting a dab of plain neosporin or veterycin gel on it, to see if that helps. Many birds will wipe their beaks after eating, to clean them off, that's pretty normal. If she's done this before on hardware cloth, then she may be trying to get something on the other side, maybe look around for things that might be an attractant for that and move them if possible, or block the view. It happens commonly. I've also had this happen when a bird panics and runs into the cloth trying to get a away.

 

[Chicken poppy]

When Isbes and Emilys beak broke off, i was nervous to glueing it, because i was afraid i could accidentally get some in her mouth, seal in bacteria, or do it incorrectly. So I didn’t seal it up, and they are fine. I just gave them extra love, because they couldn’t really rip grass very well, and we’re just tired, sitting there, and even Isbe who never likes to be held would snuggle with me.

Their beak, within a few days, looked amazingly better. And their beak is all back to normal, (It does have some spots where it broke, but its functioning perfectly) You would be amazed how quickly these can grow back.

Just give her some love, soft food, and don’t get to freaked out, because usually it can look worse then what it really is.

 

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

I would not glue it. The issue with glue is that you can seal bacteria in. You can try putting a dab of plain neosporin or veterycin gel on it, to see if that helps. Many birds will wipe their beaks after eating, to clean them off, that's pretty normal. If she's done this before on hardware cloth, then she may be trying to get something on the other side, maybe look around for things that might be an attractant for that and move them if possible, or block the view. It happens commonly. I've also had this happen when a bird panics and runs into the cloth trying to get a away.

Okay. I've been spraying it with vetericyn. I'm worried about giving her mash right now because last time I did she scratched her beak afterwards and caused the wound to open again. Should I withhold food a little longer?

 

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

When Isbes and Emilys beak broke off, i was nervous to glueing it, because i was afraid i could accidentally get some in her mouth, seal in bacteria, or do it incorrectly. So I didn’t seal it up, and they are fine. I just gave them extra love, because they couldn’t really rip grass very well, and we’re just tired, sitting there, and even Isbe who never likes to be held would snuggle with me.

Their beak, within a few days, looked amazingly better. And their beak is all back to normal, (It does have some spots where it broke, but its functioning perfectly) You would be amazed how quickly these can grow back.

Just give her some love, soft food, and don’t get to freaked out, because usually it can look worse then what it really is.

Thank you for the heartening words. I hope that's true. It keeps looking better then she scratches it and it's back to a bloody mess again. Because of this I'm worried about giving her food.