This is an area that has changed in recent years with most commercial layers now undergoing a process of beak blunting. Traditionally, chicks had their beaks trimmed with a hot blade, but they now use Infra red light on day olds which doesnt cut the beak. Instead, I gather that it basically causes the beak tip to stop growing, resulting in the tip wearing away with normal foraging behaviour.

 Its a interesting debate as the Farm Animal Wefare Council recently recommended to the government that it should delay the beak trimming ban as the consequences of having untrimmed beaks leading to canabalism was a greater welfare concern than the trimming itself. It did however recommend that if beaks did need treating that the industry should use the infrared method.