Diary of a Crossbeak: Support for Special Needs Chickens and their Keepers

[cindersga]

Very nice! Your husband does great work and is very talented!

Thank you so much!

 

[Earthologie]

I have a crossbeak as well. He is a bantam white cap polish (poor guy!). He was given to me for free from a large chicken farm. I brought him home and realized he has lice! So now I get to battle that as well. DE has helped and I need to apply the second "dose." But now I get to clean my whole coop as well! GRRR! I called the farm and they said that yes, shortly after they gave him to me they realized they had a lice problem. GREAT! ****** Anyways, here is my question: This little cockerel's beak is pretty crooked. My computer is too old to load up photos. His beak is longer than normal, it needs trimmed. I have never done this before and am scared to try. Any tips and suggestions? He does have one thing going for him though. Despite the fact he could not see anything (I have trimmed his head feathers making it a little easier for him), he is VERY sweet natured. laying him on his back to trim his head feathers was EASY.

 

[ilovemy7chicken]

I loved your heartwarming story! I just love to hear when people really love and care for their chickens and can see how smart and intelligent they are. . My mother always told me that you can tell how good a person is by how much they love animals. You're Awesome!

 

[Little Roughian]

So I finally got a picture of my little Stewie. Stewie is a workaholic... follows me around to feed the big chickens, goes out on the lawn to feed the piggies and peafowl. So helpful and always happy to see me!! Do I need to trim his little beak? He's still eating and drinking well, growing the same rate as hatch mates.

 

[Puddin Fluff]

I have a crossbeak as well. He is a bantam white cap polish (poor guy!). He was given to me for free from a large chicken farm. I brought him home and realized he has lice! So now I get to battle that as well. DE has helped and I need to apply the second "dose." But now I get to clean my whole coop as well! GRRR! I called the farm and they said that yes, shortly after they gave him to me they realized they had a lice problem. GREAT! ****** Anyways, here is my question: This little cockerel's beak is pretty crooked. My computer is too old to load up photos. His beak is longer than normal, it needs trimmed. I have never done this before and am scared to try. Any tips and suggestions? He does have one thing going for him though. Despite the fact he could not see anything (I have trimmed his head feathers making it a little easier for him), he is VERY sweet natured. laying him on his back to trim his head feathers was EASY.

Check out posts # 263, 265 & 266 on this thread. We just did a trim and asked the same questions. It worked pretty well for us. Just do a little at a time and watch for signs of blood. Good luck.

 

[Earthologie]

Thanks for that Puddin Fluff! My laptop broke down on me and until I get it fixed I have to use this VERY old Dell computer that has XP on it. This computer cannot even be updated anymore so searching for specific answers is very time consuming. Telling me which numbers to look for will be a HUGE help!

 

[BullChick]

Ya think you know a chicken! Cadburry came out to tell me how hungry she was this morning. I told her to sit on the bench while I got some feed (she did), and I began working on morning chores. She was following me around, asking what I was doing (she never has before), and finally went back to the feed can. I am in with the chicks, and she flies in. She has done this before, but this time she did something new. She pecked at the chicks that were coming to feed! Now, she has always been insistent when she can, but she has not corrected anyone since the very beginning when she was introduced to her new flock. She has always been nice to the chicks. I don't know if she was that hungry still, or if she isn't the sweet little girl I thought she was. Not that I am worried. I was just surprised, and thought it was kinda funny.

 

[Puddin Fluff]

Thanks for that Puddin Fluff! My laptop broke down on me and until I get it fixed I have to use this VERY old Dell computer that has XP on it. This computer cannot even be updated anymore so searching for specific answers is very time consuming. Telling me which numbers to look for will be a HUGE help!

Glad I could help. I understand computer frustration

I hope your chick and your computer are doing better.

 

[Puddin Fluff]

Here are a coupld of pics of Walter. I couldn't get a close up of his face as he kept giving me the Rooster dance everytime I got that close

.

 

[Puddin Fluff]

So I finally got a picture of my little Stewie. Stewie is a workaholic... follows me around to feed the big chickens, goes out on the lawn to feed the piggies and peafowl. So helpful and always happy to see me!! Do I need to trim his little beak? He's still eating and drinking well, growing the same rate as hatch mates.

Maybe someone with more experience will answer you. He is a cutie! His is more extreme than my guys. We trimmed Walter as we could see the tips of the beak were not wearing down like most of the chicks were. You have to be careful not to trim so much they bleed. I can't tell by the pic how much of the curve is extra growth, and how much is just the beak shape. Good luck.