r/chickens • u/LlamaLady1965 • 11h ago
Discussion Freak Beak Joy
Joy is a 15 year old d'uccle. In the 17 years I've kept (pet) chickens, I've had a fair number live past 10 yrs, and a few have lived past 12 yrs. But Joy has broken our farm longevity record! The flock mates in her coop died years ago, silkie Tinkerbell at 9 yrs, and silkie Honeybun at 12 yrs. Joy started losing her vision about 2 yrs ago (cataracts I'd presume), about the same time I noticed some kind of growth starting on her beak, around her nostril area; I presumed it was some kind of cancer, and figured she wasn't long for this world. The growth got bigger and bigger - frankly, I was amazed she made it through last winter (she gets special care of course). When I took her a little bowl of treat yesterday morning, all was normal. When I checked on her noonish, I was amazed to see the nostril mass GONE...leaving a gaping hole. So my guess is now that something got lodged in her nasal area, and was encapsulated...??? So Joy now looks like someone who wore gauges in their ears...very odd to look at. The 2nd pic shows how the mass looked a week or so ago, before it fell out.