Sydney broke her beak

[birdie]

I will be taking her to the vet tomorrow. Right now she is eating soft foods and doesn't appear to be in any pain. Has anyone ever seen this happen??

[bonnie]

AWWW!!!! God love it! I can't help ya, but I will be thinking about ya. What was she doing when it happened?

[birdie]

AWWW!!!! God love it! I can't help ya, but I will be thinking about ya. What was she doing when it happened?

she did it while I was at work so I have NO idea!

[Larry, Baby and Me]

I sent an email to Bill, Don and Peggy - they might be able to give some info.

Lar

[birdie]

ok... thanks Lar!

[birdscomefirst]

Ok, your gonna think I'm nuts...What do you think is broke?

Could be something I'm not seeing in the picture.

upper beak looks fine, lower beak and mandible look normal.

If you are talking about that "peeling" look. That's normal too.

Please try to describe to me what it is that you think is broken . The picture looks pretty normal to me.

Thanks,
Bill

[birdie]

Ok, your gonna think I'm nuts...What do you think is broke?

Could be something I'm not seeing in the picture.

upper beak looks fine, lower beak and mandible look normal.

If you are talking about that "peeling" look. That's normal too.

Please try to describe to me what it is that you think is broken . The picture looks pretty normal to me.

Thanks,
Bill


at the end of the lower beak there is a u shaped piece that is broken out of it. I tried to figure out how to put an arrow, but I'm not that advanced with computers yet.

[birdie]

at the end of the lower beak there is a u shaped piece that is broken out of it. I tried to figure out how to put an arrow, but I'm not that advanced with computers yet.

ok, I'm proud of me, marked in red & white is the spot I'm talking about

[birdscomefirst]

This is a picture of Max's beak so you can see what I mean.

The tip of your bird's beak looks good, the doubled tip on the bottom beak looks great.

The chipped look is a normal part where the growth portion of the beak is.

The maxillary (upper) and the mandibular (lower) beaks grow out from the base and underneath the outer layer. The outer layer sheds and chips away.

This is a picture of Max's beak so you can see what I mean.

http://www.birdscomefirst.org/images/maxbeak.jpg

[birdscomefirst]

Thats normal:-) I don't think the beak is damaged at all. It may just be the first time you noticed that:-)

[Don]

It's not common for a GW macaw to have their lower beak shaped like that, it's like a Cockatoo or Pionus lower beak - what I do notice is the length of the lower beak, it is overgrown(imnsho) and I think should be trimmed back to about the bottom of that U shape. The shape looks like she was working on a cage bar, from the placement and shape.

Like I said, I would just have it trimmed back to match.

Don

[Diane, Clouds assignment]

Brenda, if you're talking about the roundish area on the bottom of the mandible, both Blossom and Molly have the same thing on both the mandible and the middle of the top beak. I think it's from using their beak to climb on the horizontal bars of their cages.

[FoxersArtist]

Hi Brenda,
I'm so sorry to hear about syd's beak! What a scare. I am kind of curious to know what is going on with this because a few weeks before you came for her, this same thing happened only with her upper mandible. I took her to the vet who said that she had just lost a (huge) scale, that the beak was still in tact and fully functional and after smoothing out a crack on her beak, said she should be fine. Never the less, the whole front of Syd's beak had fallen off. She did point out that there was a crack down the front of Syd's lower mandible but said it didn't look like it would cause any problems. In your photo it looks like Syd not only broke loose the outter scale on her lower mandible but broke a chunk of beak out of the middle where it had been cracked before. I think if she wanted to, Syd could still eat solid foods just fine as well as drink but I am a bit concerned about the strength of her beak as this is the second occurance in about a month and such large chunks are falling off all at once. Usually scales fall off in lesser amounts and do not take chunks of new/fresh beak with them. We sent you the lab results for syd's CBC Chem bloodwork. All was normal on the last test except that Syd had a slightly increased phosphorus level - something my vet seemed not to be concerned about. Take those labs to your vet and ask him/her if he/she is concerned about the integrity of Syd's beak. It doesn't look like she bled this time but the way that she broke both the upper and lower mandibles just does not seem right to me - which is why I addressed it with my vet the first time. Try not to worry too much and I hope your vet can give you more answers than mine was able to.
-Anna

[birdie]

Thats normal:-) I don't think the beak is damaged at all. It may just be the first time you noticed that:-)

My umbies beak looks like yours also. I thought a macaws was supose to be straight across and not U'd like an umbies.

[FoxersArtist]

Syd got that U shape because she had a split in her lower mandible that broke and fell off with an outer shell of the bottom mandible. It was not there before. I do agree that it can be trimmed back so that it is smoothe again. When we first got syd she had the biggest beak I had ever seen on a macaw. Over the past month, it looks like it has been working on scaling itself back to normal size. Hopefully these really are just scales coming off and nothing to be concerned about...still I might see your vet just to play it safe.
-Anna


My umbies beak looks like yours also. I thought a macaws was supose to be straight across and not U'd like an umbies.

[birdscomefirst]

Macaws also can have that U shape, some are more V shaped and yet some are more straight across. Also, the beak that peels is like the same material as fingernail. It can chip off in small pieces or in larger pieces. It's not really damage it is a part of the beaks growth process.

I am not a fan of beak trimming unless a bird has a medical reason for it like a maloclusion (probably spelled wrong) where the upper and lower beaks don't line up right causing an overgrowth. That being said, this one could be straightened across a little bit.

The sharp parts that were suggested to be filed down are parts of the lower beak that are supposed to be sharp. It's what the bird will use to crack into things along with the upper beak and manipulation of the item or food being cracked into. They will wear as it is used to be a little more straight across.

Syd's beak looks OK . It is also good to point out that the shapes of beaks vary a little between birds.



I know this will cause disagreement amongst us, so you do what you feel is best.



Have Fun,
Bill

[FoxersArtist]

Sometimes disagreement provides a great means to learn new things so I'm all for it. :)
-Anna

[too&me]

I think it should be ok, no bleeding no raw or open spot just a little chipped out in the lower center should file down to a more normal look with out much trauma. Like taking a chip out of the leading edge of your finger nail. Most likely due to her previous nutrition being a bit weak and since Anna and you have had her her nutrition has improved greatly and a bit of the older weaker structure is now gone.

[birdie]

vet appt is at 10. I'll give an update asap

[iti hoa's mom]

My umbies beak looks like yours also. I thought a macaws was supose to be straight across and not U'd like an umbies.

Macaw beaks ARE different on the lower beak than a cockatoo. Next, look at pics of the lower beaks of different large macaws. One bird I groomed had a malocclusion. At first I could not figure out the problem. I studied many different close up pictures of the different macaws. Folks, this bird was a hybrid and had the upper mandible of a gw and a lower mandible of a blue and gold! Each of these species beaks are different shapes. Could this be another reason not to breed hybrids? This is not often seen but it does happen. I showed the vet pics of this and he was surprised also.

[birdie]

Macaw beaks ARE different on the lower beak than a cockatoo. Next, look at pics of the lower beaks of different large macaws. One bird I groomed had a malocclusion. At first I could not figure out the problem. I studied many different close up pictures of the different macaws. Folks, this bird was a hybrid and had the upper mandible of a gw and a lower mandible of a blue and gold! Each of these species beaks are different shapes. Could this be another reason not to breed hybrids? This is not often seen but it does happen. I showed the vet pics of this and he was surprised also.

interesting!

[too&me]

One more odd breeding our former neighbors had a half Weimeraner half Rottweiler, had the upper jaw Weimeraner (long) lower jaw Rottweiler poor dog could only eat off a flat plate not out of a bowl. The kids gave him small sticks through the fence to chew because he had difficultly picking up toys himself, it made him so happy.

[FoxersArtist]

I am completely againsy hybridization of our parrots and this is just one (horrifying) reason. Is it just me or do hybrid macaws also seem unusually moody? I feel so strongly that they are just not wired like non-hybrid parrots as I have never come across one who was really stable, well as stable as a parrot can be anyway. At what cost will we breed a "beautiful" animal.

Peggy, I know what you mean about the mandibles. Was there anything you could do for that poor bird?
-Anna
Macaw beaks ARE different on the lower beak than a cockatoo. Next, look at pics of the lower beaks of different large macaws. One bird I groomed had a malocclusion. At first I could not figure out the problem. I studied many different close up pictures of the different macaws. Folks, this bird was a hybrid and had the upper mandible of a gw and a lower mandible of a blue and gold! Each of these species beaks are different shapes. Could this be another reason not to breed hybrids? This is not often seen but it does happen. I showed the vet pics of this and he was surprised also.

[FoxersArtist]

Brenda, we need an update, please!
-Anna

[iti hoa's mom]

I am completely againsy hybridization of our parrots and this is just one (horrifying) reason. Is it just me or do hybrid macaws also seem unusually moody? I feel so strongly that they are just not wired like non-hybrid parrots as I have never come across one who was really stable, well as stable as a parrot can be anyway. At what cost will we breed a "beautiful" animal.

Peggy, I know what you mean about the mandibles. Was there anything you could do for that poor bird?
-Anna


Yep, I trimmed the lower beak a little shorter so it did not have as much of a curve like the b&g has. Side view, looks a little more straight and not much of a dip. Beak closed pretty good and the folks always calls the petstore when they are ready for a trim and I trim it for them. The bird eats better especially nuts.

I only do minimal trimming now about every 3 to 4 months.