Chick Braces for Cross Beak!

Christineschick said:

Hi everyone!

I have some good news! So about 2 weeks ago my chicks beak began to cross to the point that each tips of the beak were in completely different directions.(she was about 6 weeks when this started) I started using medical tape to align the beak at night, and would take it off during the day. Coco my smart hen started to realize if I lick the tape it will come off. Frustrated I googled for an hour or so and came upon a blog on parrots with cross beak that get holes drilled in the beaks, and attach a rubber band to opposite sides to align it. Great idea but I'm for one not paying for it or drilling holes in anyone's beak haha! So I started to brainstorm, and thought I wonder if Amazon has braces brackets! Guess what! They do have them for 10$ and I also ordered rubber bands! I got them a week ago and on the same side the crossing was happening I put the brackets on. I put one hook bracket on the top and one hook bracket on the bottom. I purchase super glue and wrapped coco like a chicken burrito to hold her still. Applied a small drop of super glue on the bracket and placed it on the beak, and was very careful not to get glue in her mouth or nostrils! After they were glued tight I got one of the flexible rubber bands about 1/4-1/3 moderate stretch and connected them to the hooks. It keeps the beak in straight alignment, and her beak is actually straightening! I give her a period during the day to eat without the rubber bands until her crop is full, and then I put them back on. I'll try to post a picture! Also I think this would only be effective in young chicks not adult hens! Chicks bones aren't fully developed so I'm hoping her bones will grow and be corrected!

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chicka79 said:

My chick was the 25 th of April he wasn't born this way. I think it's an injury it at 19 days old and was barely noticeable well the next day at 20 days old, he had a full fledged cross beak and no dentist will do braces and he is gonna be a show rooster.

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chicka79 said:

I know this is a growth deformity or from injury. I got these chicks from cackle hatchery and never had a bad chick. Found blood in coop so injury is highly the cause my question was to Christineschick with the braces but I can't get a response

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Jensownzoo said:

Whoops! Gotcha. Misread your post. Sorry.


In that case, it's probably a fracture at a facial growth plate or the mandible. Not sure if the braces will work since you have to remove the rubberband for them to eat and that would jostle the fracture site and disrupt the healing. But if you want to give it a try, then I'd get the smallest bracket you can since it's going on a tiny beak. For rubberbands, you can get a rough idea by measuring the distance between where the brackets are going to be, remembering that the bands need to be stretched to hold tension and that they'll need to circle the bracket itself.

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chicka79 said:

Thank you. I can't get a reply from Christineschick. The braces on her chick look nothing like what I've seen in Amazon.com, but you gave me some idea and I appreciate you. I'm in tears over this little guy he has an appt tomorrow to get some filing done on his beak and then the braces I will or right now I'm using rubber band , but he smarted his way out of them now

Thank you so much

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