# Curved beak- hard to eat



## Flying_Pidgy (Apr 26, 2006)

I have a pigeon that her beak is really long and curves to the left. (or right but i think its left). It can eat but it has a hard time competing with other birds. and cant go as same speed . i always feed it individually. The bird is probably over a year old. Is it okay to maybe shorten the beak with a file or something?


----------



## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Flying_Pidgy said:


> I have a pigeon that her beak is really long and curves to the left. (or right but i think its left). It can eat but it has a hard time competing with other birds. and cant go as same speed . i always feed it individually. The bird is probably over a year old. Is it okay to maybe shorten the beak with a file or something?


That is probably the right approach, but if you can post some pics, our members will be able to tell you for sure.

Terry


----------



## Birdmom4ever (Jan 14, 2003)

Do I understand you to mean the upper beak is overgrown to the point where the pigeon has a hard time picking up seed? We had one whose upper beak grew crooked. It wasn't overly long but it grew off to one side as you describe. He didn't appear to have trouble eating but I didn't like the way it looked, so I clipped it periodically with small nail clippers. I was very careful to clip only the very end so that it was the same length as the lower beak. And I never had a problem cutting too much. 

I had some short-faced pigeons for awhile and ironically, even though they don't have much beak in the first place, you have to clip their beaks. This is because their beaks are almost deformed and the top one often grows longer than the lower one, making it difficult for them to eat. It's already hard for them to eat because their beaks are so short. One time I accidentally cut too much on a poor little Reinaugen hen. She bled all over and I felt perfectly awful, but she recovered with no lasting ill-effects. Just one of the reasons I no longer keep short-faced pigeons. 

Anyway, I've clipped beaks on other pigeons where they grew crooked and never had a mishap. I've also filed them before shows where the beak was just a little uneven. If you're nervous about cutting, filing with an emery board works.


----------



## Flying_Pidgy (Apr 26, 2006)

il take a picture tomorrow morning in daylight.


----------



## Flying_Pidgy (Apr 26, 2006)

the beak grows back?


----------



## pdpbison (Mar 15, 2005)

Hi Flying_Pidgie, 



Get some images to the members here before trying to do anything to the Beak...


Beaks can bleed like there is no tomorrow with the slightest trim or cutting...there is a lot of blood vessels in some areas of them...as well as that a Beak is 'bone' with only a thin layer of Keretinaceous sheath covering it...so, considerable care is needed for any trimming...as well as that it is best to assay the overall condition first.


Phil
Las Vegas


----------



## warriec (Feb 2, 2007)

what i understand is that the beack had moved or grown to the left or right. I have notice this happening to bird who had recovered from wet pox. most of them do well and even breed. I had a mookee who had this problem who I gave away and the breeder who has her is breeding from her now.

do not play around with it it can get worse.


----------



## Flying_Pidgy (Apr 26, 2006)

here are two videos


----------



## Flying_Pidgy (Apr 26, 2006)

any ideas?


----------



## John_D (Jan 24, 2002)

We have several rescues who had a problem with overgrown beaks. One, a juvenile when Cynthia found him, had top part of beak pushed to one side and overgrown due to canker growth and possible pox. He has a trim and file now and then, and does manage fine with food.

Others just have the overgrowth without distortion. One of these needs the translucent tip of the beak trimmed back regularly, the rest only rarely.

I think it is because they all eat from fairly deep feeders, rather than having to pick from the ground, that they have no particular problem provided we keep a watchful eye on the beaks.

John


----------



## KIPPY (Dec 18, 2003)

I have 2 pijes (Jack and Darlington) with scissored beaks and a rehabber told me to leave the beaks alone.

I use a deep covered ceramic dish for the feed. I have a Natural Lava Stone in the Aviary and I noticed Jack likes to use it. "It helps to keep the beak trim." Jacks beak is still messed up but he tries.


----------



## Flying_Pidgy (Apr 26, 2006)

should i trim them or not? what should i use to trim them if so?


----------



## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Flying_Pidgy said:


> should i trim them or not? what should i use to trim them if so?


If they are having difficulty in eating then you should trim the beaks. You can use nail clippers if you can be REALLY CAREFUL about not clipping too much and causing a bleed. Using an emery board to file the beak down is probably the safest method. 

Terry


----------



## Flying_Pidgy (Apr 26, 2006)

do u have a picture of an emery board?


----------



## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Flying_Pidgy said:


> do u have a picture of an emery board?


Here you go: http://www.answers.com/topic/emery-board. You should be able to find emery boards in any drug store or grocery store in the section where nail files, cuticle scissors, and other manicure products are stocked. 

Terry


----------



## Larry_Cologne (Jul 6, 2004)

*re curved beaks*

In the few years I have been involved with pigeon rescues, I have not seen any feral street pigeons with overgrown beaks. (I took care of feral pigeon rescue *Splitbeak*, but that is another story, and I have written many posts regarding).

I noticed that when I had feral rescue pigeons, kept indoors for a while, or very young pigeons, eating off soft surfaces their upper beak would grow faster than the lower beak, and their claws would be long and sharp. Once they started hanging around outdoors, no more long beaks or long claws. No more filing with a diamond file designed for sharpening knife edges, with a groove for fishhook points and throwing-dart points. 

Maybe if they had a hard surface to peck seeds off of would help. Pecking against a hard surface might be good for stronger and even, bilateral beak bone growth. If their is not much resistance when they peck a surface, what is to control the rate of growth on the two sides of the beak? 

By the way, nice web-site. You can be proud of your birds.

Larry


----------

