[chicksforkicks]

Sup people,
sorry i havent been around for a while, but very busy, you know?

well i have 2 bantam chooks, in a seperate cage from all my others, that are about 23 weeks old, havent started laying yet. I took a close look at there beaks, after i caught them, and found that one had a broken chip off of its beak, both had what looked like a rotting of some kind on the top of their beak and one with a black [crusty] lump in between its comb. tried researching it and came up with nothing.

Any input would be great.

ps. In Louisiana where i am its about 78 degrees Farenheight :shock: , so it cant be the cold

[Aunt Sally]

Can you take a picture to show us chicksforkicks, it would be very helpful !

Is the rot on the beaks soft or hard ? Does it smell bad ?

What do you feed them on ?

Is the crusty lump between the wattles or near the comb ?  And could it be the result of an injury ?

Have you checked for lice and mites ?

Any other symptoms ?

A picture really would be good  

[GrannieAnnie]

Hubby says have they got a wire cage?  Are they rubbing their combs one the wire and maybe their beaks too?

Are they trying to get to the other chooks?

[chicksforkicks]

they do have a wire cage!
 
pictures asap

[GrannieAnnie]

Perhaps they are rubbing their comb and beaks on the wire and its getting infected?  Must say I've never had anything like that.  Our run has a wire fence, but the chooks can get their heas through trying to reach the grass on the other side, and sometimes they rub their neck feathers a bit.

Don't know how you'd treat a beak though.  any ideas Aunty??

[Aunt Sally]

Not really grannie.  I think Bodger will have  some ideas though !

[chicksforkicks]

sorry about the bad pictures, but its kinda of hard to take a picture of a chicken. i didnt notice until i took a close look at the last picture, but they have black dots on their wattles too. Since this is a polish you cant see its comb but on our other chicken it has a single comb and the black dot is in between.

the wire isnt big enough for them to stick their heads through

forgot to check for mites, tommorrow though

[Bodger]

I would put it down as straight forward damage through fighting through wire netting.

[Aunt Sally]

That's what it looks like to me too !

[Bodger]

keep an eye on it, incase it gets any worse.

You may get some regrowth, but beaks are funny things and it depends on the extent of the damage. As long as the bird can still feed, it should be OK.
Wire netting fights can be disasterous to chickens and I've had birds literally lose all their top beak and have been forced to cull them because they were literally unable to feed.

[chicksforkicks]

well, there is about a foot of space in between the two cages. I went ahead and put a huge sheet in between the two cages. should work.

thanks a bunch  

[chicksforkicks]

But what about the black dots on the comb and wattles? that couldnt be fighting through the cage. :?

[slowef]

I think its bruising, my Cockerals have been fighting and Mr D'arcy has these on his comb where Wellie has pecked him

[chicksforkicks]

i have reasearched it further and came to a conclusion that it is Avian Pox.
It spreads by mosquitos and fleas, so im am going  throughly and clean the cages and area surronding it tomorrow, or today depending on what continent you live on

Avian Pox(very interesting)
http://www.backyardchickens.com/LC-diseases-AvianPox.html

[Bodger]

I'm sorry, I've only just noticed that you are not from around here Chicksforkicks , its certainly not a problem that we encounter over here in the UK. I have some good poultry keeping friends over in the US and I'll see what they come up with for you .