Birds have very strong beaks, bird beaks in the wild are used to crack seeds, dig into flesh, and make holes in seeds, so why would a bird’s beak crack?
This article looks into why your bird’s beak may be cracking.
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Why is my bird’s beak cracking:
As powerful as your bird’s beak is, nothing is impenetrable, including your bird’s beak. Bird beaks do crack, thankfully, there are ways to help your bird if its beak is cracked.
This is what you need to know about your bird’s beak cracking:
Your bird’s beak is made up of a skeletal bony layer and this layer is covered by a keratin layer.
This keratin layer is the same material that our fingernails are made out of and just like our fingernails this layer can crack and does crack in birds.
Your bird’s beak can start to crack because of trauma or malnutrition.
Malnutrition:
A bird that is malnourished will have a chalky, soft, ridged, and flakey beak, because of the weak nature of the bids beak the beak will easily break if even a small amount of force is applied to the beak
What to do:
Your bird’s diet should consist of mainly a pellet feed, preferably an organic pellet feed, this should make up about 60-70 percent of the bird’s diet.
Giving the bird fresh fruits and vegetables is good and allowing the bird to have time outside is also recommended.
Injury:
Your bird’s beak may be strong and the bird may be getting all the nutrients it needs, but this does not mean that the bird’s beak is impenetrable.
Your bird can suffer trauma on its beak and this can cause the bird’s beak to crack.
Trauma can come from fighting with other birds, falling off from a high height and landing on their beaks, flying and knocking into ceiling fans flying into windows and the beak getting trapped and then yanked out between cage bars.
This can all result in beak chipping or the bird’s beak cracking.
The bird’s beak has nerve endings, because of this, a beak injury will likely be painful and traumatic.
What to do:
A small crack in your bird’s beak is not too worrying but these injuries can also cause bleeding.
Small cracks are minor injuries and the beak will regrow with no issue as long as the beak is still in one piece.
However, if badly injured, the bird’s beak may not be able to repair itself.
This can be an emergency situation so the best course of action for this is to take the bird to the vet for an assessment and for treatment as the bird’s body may not be able to heal the beak itself.
The bird may need surgery and rehabilitation at this point.
If the bird’s beak is cracked, and there is bleeding in the area, then the vet will need to stop the bleeding quickly as too much blood loss can kill the bird.
Antibiotics or antiinflammatories may also be needed. Acrylics may also be needed to treat your bird’s beak.
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other bird related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Conure Beak Problems, Conure Beak Cracking, Cockatiel Rubbing Vent, Will Male And Female Budgies Always Mate, Bird Poops In Food Bowl, How Do I Know If My Budgie Is Eating Enough?, Pigeon Vomiting Green, Why Is My Parakeet Laying In His Food Dish