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

[beb444]

how are you feedng her? deep dishes are very important for crossbeaks- no need in putting a cossbeak down, with a little extra maintance- i run a crossbeak group on facebook if you are ever over there- lots of experienced people can help you with her-

dee dishes, sometimes separating her and a friend is a better option for crossbeaks, less competition for food

I have a regular feeder, then I put warm water in her food in a glad container, and I also bought a high corner deep dish pan(that she doesn't use) she's shy and doesn't like to be handfed- but she does try to eat out of the watered food(I also sometimes do yogurt) and she also eats out of the regular food container.

 

[brittfish]

I have a regular feeder, then I put warm water in her food in a glad container, and I also bought a high corner deep dish pan(that she doesn't use) she's shy and doesn't like to be handfed- but she does try to eat out of the watered food(I also sometimes do yogurt) and she also eats out of the regular food container.

We had to completely separate our cross beak from the flock to eat. We let her eat alone (watered down feed so it's similar to oatmeal) in the morning and at night for around 1-1 1/2 hours each time. She was and still is smaller than the rest of the flock but does great otherwise. After injuring her beak she is now a full time house chicken but when we were feeding her that way she seemed to do well and would be very excited when it was time to chow. The rest of the flock really love her food so she needed her own time and space. I cannot emphasize enough how much we love her she is such a wonderful pet and is so sweet and loving almost has human like qualities.

 

[beb444]

We had to completely separate our cross beak from the flock to eat. We let her eat alone (watered down feed so it's similar to oatmeal) in the morning and at night for around 1-1 1/2 hours each time. She was and still is smaller than the rest of the flock but does great otherwise. After injuring her beak she is now a full time house chicken but when we were feeding her that way she seemed to do well and would be very excited when it was time to chow. The rest of the flock really love her food so she needed her own time and space. I cannot emphasize enough how much we love her she is such a wonderful pet and is so sweet and loving almost has human like qualities.

She's doing a lot better. For the first time yesterday I actually saw food in her bottom beak. I give her watered down food every morning and night. The rest get bored over like 5 minutes so then it's all hers. It looks like she setting bigger I'm so relieved

 

[artsyrobin]

Quote: Wonderful news!! Its a uphill battle sometimes, but they are so worth it!

 

[yellowherb]

New pictures of CB with his new beak.



sorry for the terrible pictures. I snapped them with my phone. CB is doing fantastic with his new shortened beak. He eats much better and can even forage decently (as you can tell by his dirty face). He still can't preen himself too good but he doesn't mind me doing that for him after his evening snack of dried meal worms. He's putting on weight, finally! And best of all, he's completely self sufficient, though we do use a deep food pan in the coop.

While I do not agree with DEbeaking on a normal chicken, or maybe even for mild cross beaks. Debeaking did work out good for CB and has helped him to fit in more with the other chickens. He does not realize he's different other than he must be a special boy cause he gets most of the yummy mealworms and the others only get them occasionally.

 

[Wahfarmspoultry]

Hi, ive just recently started breeding chickens and my first hatch have had a few problems. one with a cross beak and one with a leg twisted at the joint. Was just wondering if crossbeakers bottom beak has any sideways movement when they are older? Also with the twisted leg not sure what to do dont think anything can be done but i dont know just starting out

 

[artsyrobin]

Hi, ive just recently started breeding chickens and my first hatch have had a few problems. one with a cross beak and one with a leg twisted at the joint. Was just wondering if crossbeakers bottom beak has any sideways movement when they are older? Also with the twisted leg not sure what to do dont think anything can be done but i dont know just starting out

first on the leg- pics would help- it could be spraddle leg- here is a link on setting it, that needs to be done the first couple days from hatch-
https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/poultry-podiatry


on the crossbeak- my crossbeaks eat well - pics would help, if you are on facebook i have a crossbeak group there also- deep dishes for food help - here is my girl Ginger eating with Mumbles her roo that is also a crossbeak

 

[Wahfarmspoultry]

ill get pics on the leg. just wondering with the cross beak is the bottom beak loose when they are older

 

[artsyrobin]

the beak is an extension of the skull actually, I've not seen a difference so far in how it moves, just the angle that we don't expect to see-



ginger is the more severe of my crossbeaks, something i discovered in feeding all of them, they have their preferences in food, she likes sticky, my other two can handle dry fine, but deep dishes are a must-

 

[beb444]

the beak is an extension of the skull actually, I've not seen a difference so far in how it moves, just the angle that we don't expect to see- ginger is the more severe of my crossbeaks, something i discovered in feeding all of them, they have their preferences in food, she likes sticky, my other two can handle dry fine, but deep dishes are a must-

My chick has cross beak too, a little less then yours, but where her bottom beak and top line up there is swelling. I know this isn't good but is it bad? Anything I can do? She is the tiniest by far but she's doing a lot better then she was last week. Anything about the swelling? She's about a month old and I caught it at 1.5 weeks