Beak Trimming

Beak trimming, also called debeaking or beak conditioning, is the partial removal of the beak of poultry, most often egg-laying hens and turkeys and occasionally quail and ducks, to reduce injury from pecking when birds are kept in crowded conditions. Techniques include hot-blade, cold-blade, electrical methods such as the Bio-beaker, and infrared treatment, some producing an open wound and others cauterizing or causing the beak tip to shed naturally over several weeks. The practice addresses cannibalism and feather-pecking that can push flock mortality as high as 15 percent in non-cage systems, though it reduces rather than eliminates the problem, and animal welfare organizations argue it causes significant pain for limited benefit; several European countries have already banned it.