Finally we came to that time 12 weeks, when we have to debeak the birds. It was a tough process requiring careful cutting of the top beak (easy) followed by the lower one (can be slightly longer) which is more complicated because the tongue tends to get in the way. Cutting the tongue is fatal to the bird. 

2 days before the de-beaking, we de-wormed the birds to ensure that the antibiotics would be fully absorbed and it would be the last chance to do so before eggs were laid. 

The first two days after de-beaking were the toughest as it was evident that the process was very traumatic to the birds, as they are quiet (probably in pain) and docile (wonder whether its the medication) … They are slowly recovering and getting back into shape. 

The water consumption which had dropped to 60 litres for 900 birds, is now steadily climbing back to pre-debeaking levels of 120litres per day.

As always a few photos: