crossed beak. . . .

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cholmberg

cholmberg

Songster
10 Years
Jan 14, 2010
162
57
166
Lewisburg, wv
of course it's my daughter's favorite too. It's an EE chick and it has a MAJOR crossed
beak, and it's happened in the last few days. . it wasn't like that the last time she held
it several days go. the top beak doesn't even cover the bottom at all. She's pretty strong
and vigorous otherwise, but it seems like it's going to be a pretty serious deformity. . .should
I just cull this chick? Should I leave her alone and see if she handles it ok? I'll try to get a pic
later. She's two weeks old today.

bummed out. . . but I'm worried it'll get to the point that she can't eat.
 
Sorry about your chick, really darn that it has to be your daughters pet. People have kept pretty severe cross beak chickens, they do need special care, deeper food bowls, beak will probably need filed or trimmed etc, but they can make it. Here is a long thread on them https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-for-special-needs-chickens-and-their-keepers I usually cull really badly crossed ones because I am not willing to spend the time on them, but I do have several milder ones in the laying flock that just need their beaks trimmed every now and then and do fine otherwise.
 
400
 
this chick did NOT come like this, and Lilli has held it dozens of times. . .this happened fast and recently.
Opinions? put it down or let it see if it can manage? Doesn't seem like any amount of trimming is going to
help her. . . unless this isn't a crossed beak but something else?
 
cholmberg said:
this chick did NOT come like this, and Lilli has held it dozens of times. . .this happened fast and recently.
Opinions? put it down or let it see if it can manage? Doesn't seem like any amount of trimming is going to
help her. . . unless this isn't a crossed beak but something else?
Click to expand...
Put it down. It is too handicapped to live .
It's just going to starve to death anyway.
If someone sold you this chick, they need to replace it.
Can you replace it without your daughter knowing?
Sorry,
Karen
 
Last edited:
This chick is from Meyer Hatchery. She knows and no, I couldn't replace it without
her knowing, it has a specific marking on her head. I do not understand chicken
genetics, but I would hate to think a hatchery was breeding anything with a beak
as faulty as this poor chicks. . . .and I don't understand how it developed so quickly.
 
Poor little thing. I didn't even know this existed. I have Meyer chicks too and haven't had any issues with mine. I do have a speckled sussex that has curled toes but I currently have them taped. I also have 2 EE chicks. What is their hatch date? All 16 of mine were born on the 2nd of March.
 
Poor little chick, that is pretty bad already. You could just let it be and see how it deals with the handicap on its own, just make sure they have a deep food bowl and keep a close eye on its body condition and make sure it is gaining weight etc. Guess one question would be if your daughter would be more upset culling the chick now or when it is older if it doesn't do well. The beak trimming is more because they don't wear the edges/ends like normal so they tend to overly long, it doesn't really fix anything in a case like this. I would cull it myself just because I don't think it could mix in with the regular flock and compete for food etc without needing to be checked often.
 
I don't mean to sound cruel but this chick will not have a good life. I would cull it--it will be so painful to watch it struggle in life and then probably die anyway. I'm sorry for your chick.
 

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