Cross beak chick

I have an almost 4 week old chick with a severe (at least I think so) crossed beak. I will try to post pics. The lower beak is pointing to the left and the upper beak has an unusal hook to it. It reminds me of a raptor's beak. I have been syringe feeding it several times a day. It now flies up to me while all the others run away. I put some of the game bird starter food in the microwave with a little water and that makes it nice and mushy so it can be squirted out of the syringe. My question is how much should I be feeding it and how often shoud I be doing it? Am I doing it a diservice by feeding it? Thanks in advance for any and all advise, even if you say I should cull it.

I've never had a cross-beak personally, but I do know that the beak gets worse as they age. I applaud you for not culling him but giving him a chance to make it! But I would be careful not to make him totally dependent on the syringe. Have you tried a really deep cup filled with food?

Pictures would be helpful. I hope someone else comes along who can help you more! Best of luck.

I have a hen that is pretty severe cross beak, and i started off with wetting her food down in a ver deep dish. I probably would of culled her but my step daughter picked her as her's and named it so we have done everything we can do to help her. She isn't as big as my other hens but she has determination so now i couldn'tthink of not having her part of my flock.

I have a young hen with a pretty bad cross beak as well. Got her from another local chicken person, and she is doing very well...eats and lays just like everyone else. Will have to post a pic tomorrow of her...

This is the chick.

That is a very severe cross beak for only 4 weeks old. If it doesn't get much worse than that, then this chick can probably make it ok. Unfortunately, they usually do get worse and if it gets much worse this chick will never be able to eat on it's own. My cross beak hen looks about like that now, at almost a year old. At 4 weeks, her beak was just a little out of line. If you decide not to cull, you may have to feed it for the rest of it's life. You will probably also need to trim that beak because it can not wear it down naturally and both beaks will only grow longer and longer. The best way to do that is to grind the extra length off with a dremmel and a small grinding stone. Nail trimmers and scissors will work, but they are not ideal as it is far too easy for them to cause splitting which can lead to other issues. Also, a dremmel will be rotating quickly enough that it should cauterize any bleeding if you do happen to take it back just a little too far. Be sure to work in a well lit area so that you can see where the "quick" part of the beak begins and don't grind too much off.

How much and how often depends largely on the size and age of the chick. Probably 3-5cc 4-6 times a day at this age. Just check the crop frequently and feed again when the crop is empty (or very close to it). The next big concern, can this chick drink on it's own? If this chick can't drink, then you're probably not going to be able to keep up with it's water needs as it matures. Hand feeding/syringe feeding is ok, but unless you want to be syringe feeding this bird for the rest of it's life then you'll want to teach it to eat out of a deep dish. You can start with moistened crumbles, mix water with the feed until it's about oatmeal consistency, then gradually decrease the amount of water until it's just the dry crumbles.

This is Buffy, my cross beak hen, at about 2 weeks:




And this is her at about 6 months or so, right after a beak trim:


You can see how much worse it got. I first noticed it at 5 days old, and when I first noticed it was just ever so slightly off. At first, I could easily apply gentle pressure against the bottom beak and push it back into alignment. I was worried that she wouldn't be able to eat enough to survive once she started laying eggs. But she seems to get along just fine. She lays a med-large green egg almost every day. The only difference is that her yolks are very pale yellow compared to my other eggs because she can't pick anything up in the yard and is only able to eat the layer crumbles. It's kind of sad watching her try to pick things up, but it doesn't seem to bother her very much. And we weigh her about once a week or so to make sure she is maintaining weight and so far she's doing alright. She's definitely smaller and skinnier than the other birds, but not so much that I worry she isn't getting enough to eat.

Here is mine. I need to attempt trimming it:

Oh my. Most of these chicks don't make it passed the initial brooding stages. It is interesting see people who have stuck with them. It is also interesting to see how the domestication of animals has resulted in hybrids, mutations, and deformities being rampant among animals. Of course this is observed in humans, but we call them diseases or handicaps.

I got mine as an adult, so I'm not sure what she was like as a chick. It is quite interesting though.

Ok, we adopted 3 teenage chicks..... they are about 8 weeks old. A barred rock, a gold laced wynadotte and an EE. The EE has a crossed beak. She is the same size as her sisters and eats well. This is our first time of having a cross-beaked chick.

So..... from what I have been reading on the board..... it gets worse as they age? She isnt too bad now, just slightly crossed.
They are eating chick crumbles right now but in a few weeks will be moved to big girls pen.
The big girls have layer pellets and scratch.

Will she(the EE) be able to eat layer pellets or should we also buy layer crumbles to mix in so she has food to eat as well?

How long of a life expectancy do they usually have?

I have read that they do not usually make it past chick stage, depending upon how severe it gets, etc.

Just want to make sure she has the life she deserves.

And do you notice your other hens picking on your crossbeak because they are different?