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

[Lobzi]

I have 1 with a slight cross beak. She doesn't gain weight as well with the general population, but she was lonely the last time I separated her. She does eat and drink but doesn't always get the same amount of food b/c she is pushed away. Not sure what to do.

When I had a little runt in a family of four I used to let her spend the day with her feathered family but every morning I would bring her in for some extra nutrition and attention from me. Sweetie was killed by a raccoon one night but before that she grew up to be the same size as her sibs and was doing just as well. She was not a crossbeak but for some reason she was behind the others in growth.

Try some extra nutrition once or even twice a day with her but do let her spend the majority of the time with her feathered friends. That is my recommendation.

 

[Christineschick]

Hi everyone,

I'm starting to see a trend that a lot of Ameraucanas have cross beak

I have a happy healthy 6 week chocolate Ameraucana; I just noticed her beak was slightly crooked. I decided to make her a head gear to help align the beak and hoping like braces this will help the bones/ muscles to begin to form normally. It basically is taped on the out of align side, and then I stretch it to the opposite side to gently force it align. She'll probably loose a few feathers, but worth it if she grows normally and able to eat like a normal hen. She can still eat with the headgear on! Has anyone else done any other remedies to align the beak when they were young? I wish I could share a photo but the app keeps on glitching and not allowing me to add one.

 

[brittfish]

At my feed store they say the chicks are ameracaunas but in fact they are just easter eggers so I think that has to do with the cross beaks that they aren't bred properly. Back yard breeder stuff I think. As far as head gear. Never thought of it I'd like to see if it helps because they say that mothers can help fix the chicks cross beak by correcting it with their own beak. Our cross beak just geadually got worse until now hwr bottom beak is at a 90 degree angle to her top beak.. good luck. Cross beaks make great pets. I cant imagine not habing cinnamon.

 

[Christineschick]

Hi Brittfish

That good to hear hopefully this will make an improvement. I'm also try to massage her jaw twice a day. I heard from another forum it can result from TMJ or muscle spasm and if it isn't corrected young it become permanent. I heard of people using penetran arthritis cream to help relieve the spasm. I'm trying everything. If I see improvements I'll update and hopefully I can post a photo!

 

[chicken19]

I hope you don't mind me posting this.
I have a ameraucauna chick with a very severe cross-beak.
Her name is Little Blackie (LB) for short and she is such a little sweetheart but I'm afraid she can't eat properly anymore and is getting skinny. I'm super worried about her. I started feeding her a mash with raw egg, yogurt, chick crumble, super chopped grass, crushed egg shell and water but she refuses to eat it, so I'm going to experiment with different thicknesses. She only will eat dry chick crumble which I'm afraid she can't get much in her.
I can post a photo soon.
LB is 6 ish weeks old.
I'm thinking about moving her into the house in a crate (maybe with another chicken for company).
If you have any suggestion please reply here: 6 Week Old Crossbeak
I might try tube feeding but I am a bit hesitant because it would be more time consuming.

 

[Christineschick]

@chicken19 I think if you don't mind having a handicap hen, and feeding her by tube the rest of her life you may want to consider culling her My six week old has a slight under bite and able to eat on her own, but since yours is so severe there's really nothing you can do. I personally don't have the time to hand feed a hen for the rest of its life so if mine gets to the point where it can't thrive on its own I will have to cull my sweet little coco

If the beak just started to cross there's more options to try. From other forums, and Avain websites I found that cross beak can be genetic, from deficiency, and TMJ. Late on set of cross beak at 6 week suggested to rub penetran plus athrititis cream around the eye(don't get it in the eye) and jaw for a week. According to the article if it is TMJ and caused by the tightening muscle it can become permanent. So I'm trying the penetran plus for 7 days. As terrible as this sounds, and I hate doing it I use medical tape to align the beak before she goes to bed in her crate. The tape only touches the beak at the tip,and does Not cover the nostrils so she can breath. I also make sure no feather are harmed in the process. Since she is growing if you can align the beak I'm hoping it will prevent it from getting worst during her growth spurt. For parrots with cross beak the vet can drill a hole with a hook on the top and bottom beak and use rubber-bands to align it almost like braces. I know this may seem cruel, but I'm trying everything not to cull her! In the morning I remove the medical tape and let her eat and hangout during the day. Until bedtime and we do our routine. So far it hasn't gotten worst and in the morning it's more aligned. I will update everyone and let everyone know if I have any success so other chicks with mild cross beak may have a chance!

 

[chicken19]

@chicken19 I think if you don't mind having a handicap hen, and feeding her by tube the rest of her life you may want to consider culling her

My six week old has a slight under bite and able to eat on her own, but since yours is so severe there's really nothing you can do. I personally don't have the time to hand feed a hen for the rest of its life so if mine gets to the point where it can't thrive on its own I will have to cull my sweet little coco

If the beak just started to cross there's more options to try. From other forums, and Avain websites I found that cross beak can be genetic, from deficiency, and TMJ. Late on set of cross beak at 6 week suggested to rub penetran plus athrititis cream around the eye(don't get it in the eye) and jaw for a week. According to the article if it is TMJ and caused by the tightening muscle it can become permanent. So I'm trying the penetran plus for 7 days. As terrible as this sounds, and I hate doing it I use medical tape to align the beak before she goes to bed in her crate. The tape only touches the beak at the tip,and does Not cover the nostrils so she can breath. I also make sure no feather are harmed in the process. Since she is growing if you can align the beak I'm hoping it will prevent it from getting worst during her growth spurt. For parrots with cross beak the vet can drill a hole with a hook on the top and bottom beak and use rubber-bands to align it almost like braces. I know this may seem cruel, but I'm trying everything not to cull her! In the morning I remove the medical tape and let her eat and hangout during the day. Until bedtime and we do our routine. So far it hasn't gotten worst and in the morning it's more aligned. I will update everyone and let everyone know if I have any success so other chicks with mild cross beak may have a chance!

Thanks. I know a lot of people would cull LB but I could never do that. LB cross-beak appeared at about 1 and a half weeks.
I'm testing different feeding methods. I give all the chicks a special watery mash so Lb get's some in the morning. In the day LB can get a little bit of the normal chick crumble in her. At night I bring her inside and feed her the mash and water.
At least that's my plan. I'll see how it works out.

 

[HelloChickies]

When I had a little runt in a family of four I used to let her spend the day with her feathered family but every morning I would bring her in for some extra nutrition and attention from me. Sweetie was killed by a raccoon one night but before that she grew up to be the same size as her sibs and was doing just as well. She was not a crossbeak but for some reason she was behind the others in growth.

Try some extra nutrition once or even twice a day with her but do let her spend the majority of the time with her feathered friends. That is my recommendation.

That picture of her peeking out of your sleeve, is just tooooo cute!

 

[Christineschick]

Hi everyone!

I have some good news! So about 2 weeks ago my chicks beak began to cross to the point that each tip of the beak were in complete different directions. I started using medical tape to align the beak at night and 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 that get holes drilled in their beaks and attach a rubber band to opposite sides to align it. Great idea but I'm for not paying for it or drilling holes in anyone's beak haha! So I brainstormed 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 we 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 with out the rubber bands until her crop is full and then I put the rubber band back on. I'll try to post a picture! Also I think this would only be effective on young chicks not adult hens! Chicks bones aren't fully developed so I'm hoping her bones will grow and be corrected!

 

[Lobzi]

Oh that is great. I hope her deformity is corrected by the bands. I have a young quail who hatched with a deformed head and crossed beak, no eye showing one one side and it is thriving. Im so surprised. I thought it would die but it hangs with the best of them.