[chickenlicken]

We have had to put anti pecking rings on our girls as they were becoming quite bald and after eliminating all other causes and spying one girlie pulling her own feathers out we finally and reluctantly put the beak clips on. 
Can anyone tell me how long you can leave these on, do they need to be replaced after so long or just when they fall off and should we keep them on indefinitely or only for certain amount of time?

Sadly we lost one of our girls last weekend, the first time we have lost one, she appeared to have had a stroke and was unable to stand, her balance had gonel and one foot was clenched up.  I took her to the vet and he offered to try her with painkillers but I felt it wouldn't help as she didn't appear in any pain and he agreed saying it probably was neurological - is this common in birds??  She was absolutely fine before??

Thanks for any comments

[Aunt Sally]

Beak rings gradually become ineffective chickenklicken.  The beak bites into them so they need changing periodically and they also wear a groove in the beak so allowing the beak to meet around them.  You then need to remove the ring for a while to allow the grove to fill in again.

[chickenlicken]

Thanks Aunt Sally

Any tips for removing them!! They are hard to put on and although we got them from The Domestic Foul Trust the instructions were very basic.
Should they be used more to break the habit rather than as a long term treatment?