Beak Injuries

Beak injuries are common in backyard chickens, especially roosters. Injuries range from mild indentations in the beak wall to partial loss of the beak. Since the beak is lined with nerve endings, beak injuries are very painful.

Chickens can injure their beaks during fights with other flock members, getting the beak caught in hardware wire (especially 1/2" inch hardware cloth) or other small gaps, or from predator attacks.

Anatomy of a Chicken's Beak

Chickens have a conical-shaped, moderately curved beak. Normally, the tip of maxilla (top portion of the beak) slightly overlapping the mandible (bottom part of the beak). The beak is composed of several different structures and layers. Keratin surrounds the outer portion of the beak, which protects inner soft tissues, dermis, and bone. The keratin that coats the lower beak is referred to as gnathotheca and the upper beak keratin layer is termed rhinotheca. Kertin is a hard skin surface that is produced by the dermis of the beak.

Treatment

Treatment of beak injuries varies depending on the severity, extent of the damage and degree of contamination of the injury.

Injuries where the damage is confined to the outer hardened layer of the beak the bird the prognosis for full recovery is usually good. This is usually the case when injuries present as cracks. Once the section of the beak which has cracked comes off, the layer underneath will harden and replace the portion lost. This process can take 1-3 weeks.

In these cases, prescription pain medication and supportive care may be sufficient. Reconstruction of the lost portion of the beak through the use of dental acrylic may be possible. Your veterinarian may also recommend antibiotics depending on the level of contamination of the injury. Supportive care consists of keeping the beak clean, offering soft foods (adding water to the feed creates a mash), encouraging the bird to keep eating and drinking, and minimizing risk of them hurting the beak further. Subcutaneous fluids may be necessary if the bird is not drinking.

Cases of severe injuries of the beak such as partial or complete amputation, treatment requires stronger pain medication, antibiotics, tube or torpedo feeding, subcutaneous fluids, and surgery. It is inhumane not to bring a bird with an injury of this magnitude to see a veterinarian. Depending on the extent of the damage, reconstruction of a portion of the beak may be possible with dental acrylic or small pins to stabilize the beak tip.

Initial complications include reduced feed intake, reduced activity

Potential long-term consequences include secondary deformations to beak, especially if the injury isn't treated promptly and correctly.