Well, I managed to break Frances of her broodiness. It only took a week of locking her out of the coop during the day… especially the last 2 days, which reached almost 100 degrees. And I did dip her in cool water on one of those days, which may have helped, or cooled her down from the heat at the very least. The day after that she started roosting with Alberta at night again… and a few days later she started laying again. Yay!
However, (she is SO determined to keep me on my toes) now she has broken her beak! It is not completely broken off, just cracked near the end, but it’s pushed over at an angle, and I’m not sure whether I should do something about it. Have any other of you fellow chicken owners had to deal with this problem?
I hear that their beaks will grow back like fingernails, but there is possible danger of it becoming infected, or making it hard for them to eat and drink normally… and I’ve read about several treatments, including filing the rough edges, applying disinfectant, and even super-gluing it back together, but I also read that you shouldn’t super glue it if it’s gotten dirty. I can’t tell by looking at it what is dirt, dried blood, or blackberries (they’ve been eating a lot of blackberries) Here’s what it looks like from both sides:
Thoughts? Experiences? Words of advice? And why, oh why, is it always Frances?
Update: right after I wrote this I went to check on her and it had broken off completely. I fed her some yogurt to help with infection. Should I do anything else to clean it? And maybe mash up her food with water for awhile?
Definitely some blood AND dirt in there now. But she is still wanting to eat and drink.
vuchickens 
ouch! if I were you, I’d phone local vet (or bird specialist) for advice. Maybe a shot of anti-biotics wouldn’t be a bad idea to prevent infection?
Thanks! I may do that, but I’d hate to give her antibiotics preemptively. I don’t even like doing that for myself or my kids. She seems happy enough this morning. It looks like it’s scabbed over, and she still wants to eat… Mash out of a deep bowl anyway.
I have no idea, but hope and pray she heals.
Thank you! Me too! I think she will be OK. I hear that some chicken farmers clip off part, or even all of their birds top beak on purpose, so they won’t peck their own eggs or each other. SO awful! But at least that tells me she can survive… Whether or not it grows back.
That looks ouchy. I have no experience with chickens, but I hope she will be fine!
Thank you so much!
Oh for goodness sake… that Frances! Hope it does grow back (like fingernails) š ā„ ā¤
Thank you! It is growing back! I’ll post a pic soon. š
Oh that is good to hear, and soon see! š ā„ ā¤
We’ve been so busy moving this past summer that I only just read this. How is Frances doing? I hope the beak has grown back and that she’s doing OK.
She is great! Thanks for asking! And it is growing back… It matches the lower beak now… Albeit a little crookedly, but that doesn’t seem to bother her. As you can see… I’ve been to busy to another post about it as well. š