We had a skunk coming around at night stealing eggs and eating chicks (this one bantam hen would not nest in the coop, unfortunately). One night about a week and a half ago it attacked the hen and bit her top beak off. She seems okay otherwise and now faithfully sleeps in the chicken house now that the skunk ate all her chicks, but I am wondering if her beak will ever grow back.
I make sure she gets enough food before the others eat it up, ( she eats slow of course).
Thankfully the dog cornered the skunk one night recently and there was a terrible smell but the skunk has gone to meet it's Maker.
skunk attack
Beaks wont grow back. If you look tho, you will find there is a practice of trimming beaks- so she will survive if the other hens leave her alone.
Yep, I've heard of de-beaking, but never knew if their beaks grew again (like fingernails that are trimmed). I was hoping... She is a sweet hen, and I don't like seeing her struggle to eat.
Wish we had got rid of that mean skunk before it attacked her.
You might adjust the food you give her so she has less trouble, or I would make a rolled wire cage where chix could escape their older hens to eat. It allowed them to pass thru the wires to their food unhindered. Umm do you feed any water soaked grains like oats to them? Her beak is prob more damaged than a debeaked fowls' but I dont follow the practice and never heard of beaks regenerating.
I have not been soaking the grains but just yesterday watched a YouTube video about how to make your own organic chicken feed that can be soaked/sprouted, making it a lot more nutritious. Will be looking into that more.
Yes, most of her top beak is gone, poor thing. She has a hard time picking food up and just stands there watching when I dump out the grasshoppers( I collect them during the night) in the morning - she doesn't even bother chasing them any more. So sad...
In the movie How to Train Your Dragon, the main character (Hiccup) repairs the dragon's damaged tail so he can fly right again. Wish I could repair her beak somehow, it should be easy since it is such a small thing. But of course, life isn't a cartoon, and sometimes little things are the most difficult. .
I think the chances of regrowth depend upon how much beak is gone. Young chicks can regrow clipped beaks so most hatcheries don't offer the service. If there has been no bone lost, the beak should grow back. If a little bone is gone, the beak may recover but be deformed. If the injury is so high up that you can actually see into the sinus cavity, there is little likelihood of recovery.
I would be chopping grasshoppers. Good mash!
How do you catch grasshoppers at night?
I'm seeing hundreds of grasshoppers here this year at the side of my house and in an area I fenced off in the backyard where the chickens can't go. I don't believe in using chemical insecticide, and they are going wild.
In my garage I had some kind of bug multiplying like crazy. I don't know kind they are, but they were just taking over. They only come out at night. Turn on the garage light at night and YIKES. So disgusting! Anyway, I did some research on natural insecticides and started spraying orange oil in there and it has really helped. At first it looked like it wasn't working, but slowly over a matter of weeks, they are dying off.
Grasshoppers are not as creepy as these bugs, but if I ever want to grow vegetables, I don't want them around. They are so destructive. I would like to give some to the chickens. So, I was really curious about how you are catching them at night.
Picture of a dead bug would help. Grasshoppers and other daytime bugs hide in the thicknesses of grasses and leaves. The same as Nightbugs in the daylite. - lay a board or something for them to hide under and there they will hide.
The grasshoppers are not so quick to jump at night. I go out there with my headlight on, a container, and a sharp pair of snips. I just grab them off the four O'clocks stems, morning glory vines, sunflowers or whatever they are munching or sleeping on at the time. I cut their hoppers off and stuff'em in the container (the part that slows me down is taking the lid on and off (I don't screw it on, but still have to holster my weapon (snips) to take the lid off while the other hand is holding the grasshopper. They will climb right out of the container if there is no lid. I do this for four hours several times a week and when I go outside in the morning can't tell that there are any less of the munchers! Don't know where they are all coming from (probably the neighbors who only have grass and no flowers or other plants.) Anyway, the chickens LOVE it when I bring them breakfast grasshoppers so I keep banging my head on the wall (so to speak) : )
That's so neat. Ty.