# hooked beak



## Kairi (May 22, 2005)

If a bird that i found's beak is like a J at the tip on the top part of the beak, but the bottom part of the beak is fine, can you just clip the hook off? and what is it????


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Depends, how bad is it? Can you take a picture? I have one that grows something like you describe naturally and I do have to clip it off just a tiny bit from time to time with fingernail clippers. If you clip it off too short it will bleed. 

Now, if the entire beak from the base under the white part to the tip of the bottom beak is curved downward, it can be a sign of canker affecting the growth rate of the bottom of the beak root. If that part grows slower and the upper part grows faster, then it will begin to curve the entire upper beak. That's bad. If that's the case then you better treat for canker el pronto.

My bird that has the J-beak isn't actually affected by it, she just goes on like she had better sense. She's certainly not skinny, so it's working for her. I just clip it because she can get the safflower seeds quicker during the loft feeding frenzies. I just want her to get her fair share.

Incidentally, the outer portion of the beak is somewhat the same as fingernails and is constantly growing.

Pidgey


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## feralpigeon (Feb 14, 2005)

Hi Kairi,

Pidgey just accurately diagnosed this same problem w/a bird (silly me ) that I just took in that someone had rescued and posted about in my location. The top part is like a "j" and was rescued @ a marina. There is indeed a canker problem and it is affecting the beak. Just my two cents.

fp


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## Kairi (May 22, 2005)

Hey guys,

the bird was a mourning dove, so we took it out to CALM today, since we could not keep it.  it's beak was only hooked at the tip, but the rest of the beak was strate if anyone wants to know. the bottom beak was strate too.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

That doesn't sound like anything to worry about. Maybe it evolved from a vegetarian hawk.

Pidgey


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

I have heard that growth of the upper beak can also mean a liver problem. In that kind of case detoxing the liver would be in order. Start with milk thistle seed and add a little to the seed mix every day for a month or longer. The seed used needs broken upon use.


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## NumberNine (Jul 19, 2005)

An emery board will do an excellent job at shortening the beak. It only takes a few minutes and is more gentle and more safe for the bird.

If you use a fingernail clipper to cut part of the beak and if there is skin attached to the part of the beak you are cutting, you can be sure as h*ll that you will be inflicting a lot of pain to the bird.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

NumberNine said:


> If you use a fingernail clipper to cut part of the beak and if there is skin attached to the part of the beak you are cutting, you can be sure as h*ll that you will be inflicting a lot of pain to the bird


Well, as I'm the one using the fingernail clippers, I'd like to say that I'm not overdoing it. Actually, it doesn't matter what method you use--if you go back too far, then you've gone back too far, period. If you watch pigeons feeding on concrete and they're being rather competitive, you'll be able to hear the muted thump of the beak-tips hitting the concrete. When they eat that way, their beaks just naturally get worn off.

When you've got a bird like this one in particular of mine that delicately picks through a feeder to ingest nothing but the best morsels, then there's not a lot of the natural "wearing" going on. Her beak will end up with a very thin sliver extending about a 1/4" beyond the tip of her lower beak-tip (pointed almost but not quite straight down) and it's all like very thin fingernail. I actually test her by holding safflower seeds in my hand and if she can still pick them up just fine, I don't clip it. When she starts having difficulty, I clip off about 1/8" and she doesn't even notice.

Pidgey


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## NumberNine (Jul 19, 2005)

Allow me to clarify my thoughts. Between a fingernail clipper and an emery board, the emery board is a safer and gentler alternative. To each his own. I also believe that no part of the beak should be cut or reduced in length if there is some sort of membrane tissue attach to the area you are interested in.


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