Poorly chicken

[Suz]

Hello Everyone,

 

My Layla had to be put to sleep last week She had developed a tumour and become very ill and nothing could be done except to spare her the prolonged suffering.

 

This of course left Yoko on her own, so I set about getting two new companions for her without delay. This wasn't easy, as it turns out there is a national chicken shortage! Omlet told me they are only selling chickens with Eglus because of it, no replacements, and other chicken suppliers in my area had limited stock and were saying it could be months before they get more. My first question is, does anybody know why there is chicken shortage? I am just curious.

 

In the end I got a Sussex Star, Shelly , who is very tame and friendly and laid her first the day after we got her, and a Bovan Goldline, Dusty , who is still very little and was originally destined to become a battery hen, which leads me to my second question... The tip of Dusty's beak has been removed, top and bottom. She seems to manage though it obviously makes things more difficult for her. The supplier told me it would grow back, but I am sceptical and can't find any information on it. I am just interested to know though if a chicken's beak can grow back?

 

Thanks very much.

Suz.

Edited October 8, 2006 by Guest

[freak29]

Firstly i'm sorrry to hear the news! Well, i'm not sure on either of your questions. In my area, I know local breeders were out of Black Rock ( equivalent) but had plenty of Warrens ( equivalent) But did manage to get some in the end, without too many problems. I didn't know there was a shortage either, so that suprised me. Im glad you got some friends though. And the only reason I could imagine a battery hen getting its beak clipped was to stop pecking (in that awful cramped environment I assume they can get quite aggressive) and have seen images of chickens getting attacked then eaten ! Write back if you find any info out about it. Good luck!

[Chickadoo's]

Gosh...Chicken shortage...Might be something to do with foxes. That all i can think of. I lost my three chickens (Henny, Jenny & Penny) recently that way after having them only 5 months. Was wanting to get some more from Omlet but seems i cant now. I will just have to wait.

 

I have never heard of chickens having the end of there beaks removed. But remember watching an animal program with a parrot on it. Anyway they cliped its beak because it had over grown and was causing problems for it.

 

Is the chickens beak noticeably different?

[ali-s]

Sorry to hear about Layla

 

The chicken shortage I think is due to the Avian Flu outbreak in the Spring. A lot of the hybrids start off life in Europe and then are brought over here. Breeders abroad and over here are keeping stocks low in case of another outbreak.

 

I have read on another site that Meadowsweet will be keeping only 4 types of Hybrid next year instead of their range of 12. One company, Goodlife Poultry has gone out of business.

 

Pure bred chickens from a hobby breeder might be the way to go if Hybrids are in short supply. Plenty of ads in the back of the Practical Poultry magazine.

 

I'm not sure about the clipped beak question, however I wouldn't have thought the beak would grow back Hope I am wrong.

Edited October 8, 2006 by Guest

[Suz]

Battery hens are de-beaked with a hot machine blade to stop canablism, reduce fighting and make them eat less food. It's not a very nice practice I think as I have read that it causes chickens ongoing pain.

 

I think usually they take more of the beak off, but Dusty has just had the tip removed. From a distance it just looks like she has a short stubby beak, but when you look close up you can see the damage.

 

She even has a permanant little hole at the front where the top and bottom don't quite meet, and you can see her little tongue through it.

 

It makes it difficult for her to pick up small food, or break large food apart like grapes and leaves to make them smaller and easier to swallow.

[ubereglu]

I think it's because in winter you have to be really careful with pullets as they react strangely to weather conditions. Also it's usually not advised to do hatchings in Winter as they can easily pick up colds then too.

[CannyCat]

There was a thread a whle back where a chook was missing almost its whole top beak, and iirc it did grow back. Think the chicken was called mango, but I could be wrong.

[kannie]

Maisy has the tip of her beak missing. We didn't notice till we got her home (mixture of glasses not on and not knowing what to look for anyway ).

 

When we noticed both chooks were different I phoned the supplier who said it must have been genetic or a birth defect, and offered to swop her, but I didn't want to do this. The beak hasn't grown back, but doesn't seem to cause her any problems that I've noticed. She's still lovely!

[Richard and Jo]

I posted something a little while back about our Isa Brown who had the tip of her beak missing too. Most people think it is because Isa Browns are also destined to be battery hens so are clipped at a day old. When we got her from our new supplier (as we couldn't get any hens from our Meadowsweet supplier), nearly all of them had the tips missing, though they were otherwise kept in good conditions. We chose Harriet because she looked about the best (ie. only the very tip has gone whereas some chickens had quite a bit missing). I know what you mean though, I was a bit dismayed to see it, but it doesn't bother her and she's fine with it. It does seem a shame though, doesn't it.