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

[MeggieB]

This is my 2.5 month old crossbeak Salmon Favorelle chicken! I have been wondering what exactly is wrong with her and now i know its called crossbeak. Do you know if they tend to have issues with self care? Grooming and such? She looks wet and dirty all the time compared to my other favorelle the same age.

 

[chippy99th]

This is such a neat thread! Hope I'm not too late to the party!

I unexpectedly became the caretaker of a special needs chick this weekend. One of my hens hatched out 6 healthy babies and one chick that is missing a leg! She has a deformed little foot at the end of her furry thigh but the scaly part of her leg is just not there. I named her Una, hehe. So far she is doing very well, is alert and eating and drinking (in a brooder in the house with one of the others for a buddy; she couldn't keep up with the mom of course).

She doesn't really stand much and spends most of her time sitting. I was worried that I maybe should cull her for quality of life reasons (I am starting nursing school next year and won't have much time to care for her & move her around if she's immobile) but she has started moving around! I'll see her in one spot, and then I'll check on her a minute later and she'll be at the other end of the brooder. I finally caught her moving and she does a funny sort of hop that is slowly becoming more graceful as she learns not to try to "step" with her stump, and as her good leg gains strength.

She is so amazing already. 2-3 days old! All animals are inspiring just by their uniqueness and incredible natures, but I gotta admit, the ones that usually grab my heart are the ones that would normally end up on the reject pile for one reason or another. Hopefully Una continues getting better at walking and standing. In the meantime, neither her nor the able-bodied chick that is her companion seem to realize there's anything different about her.

 

[chicken19]

After buying a batch of twelve hatchery americauna babies, three had crossbeaks.
One died of severe pneumonia while I was on a camping trip. She was the most amazing bird but I couldn't save her. She was severely dis-formed and was born with a dent in her skull.
My other two started showing a minor crossbeaks so I trimmed their beaks with a pair of kitchen scissors.
That saved them.
The lesson being- DONT JUST WATCH THE CROSSBEAK GROW.
It will get more crossed as they age.
Trimming the beak does not hurt.
Just don't cut the quick.
Make tiny small trims.
Then use a nail file to grind down the edge a little.
It saved my little Ginger and Owlet.

 

[sara1226]

I don't mean to interrupt this thread, but I have a 3 month old cross beak Americauna and his (or her) tongue is so dried out it is like a short stub rather than a long pointy tipped normal chicken tongue. The tongue is constantly exposed to air. No issues otherwise. Has a full crop every day. Is there anything I can do for his tongue? Maybe give him coconut oil every day?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[brittfish]

I don't mean to interrupt this thread, but I have a 3 month old cross beak Americauna and his (or her) tongue is so dried out it is like a short stub rather than a long pointy tipped normal chicken tongue. The tongue is constantly exposed to air. No issues otherwise. Has a full crop every day. Is there anything I can do for his tongue? Maybe give him coconut oil every day?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

My cross beak has the same issue and her tongue seems to get to a certain length like it's almost like a callous then that will fall off from time to time. I've tried putting coconut oil on it but she seems to be bothered more by that than by her tongue. So I just leave it alone. She will be 3 this summer so I guess it's okay.

 

[sara1226]

Thanks for the reply. My biggest concern is how winter will be for this crossbeak baby. I unfortunately live where it can be well below zero for days at a time. Last winter we had -18..-20.. for example. If his tongue gets this dry in spring I worry about the harsh winter. Might have to set something up for him or her in our heated garage for a few months.

 

[brittfish]

Thanks for the reply. My biggest concern is how winter will be for this crossbeak baby. I unfortunately live where it can be well below zero for days at a time. Last winter we had -18..-20.. for example. If his tongue gets this dry in spring I worry about the harsh winter. Might have to set something up for him or her in our heated garage for a few months.

Yeah our crossbar lives in our house which I get isn't feasible for everyone but she's indoors year round. Does your cross beak eat well? Dry food? We have to make a mash for ours and she gets really wet and messy. Couldn't live outdoors during winter. I had bought a product called snout soother for my dogs nose when it was really raw and dry one time and that worked really well and is all natural and okay for dogs to luck off. Might be a good product for the tongue.

 

[cassn]

We have a 7 month old rooster (brahma-cochin mix). When he was born his foot was club-like and his toes were curled under, leaving him unable to stand. We made little casts to reset his foot and it's mostly straightened out. He sometimes walks a little sideways, but he can get around pretty well. He has some level of blindness as well. He can see to some extent, but not well. He is a sweet boy. Because if the blindness, he panics frequently when something gets close to him but he is unsure what. Anyone have any suggestions on how to assist him? He has a designated nesting box that we put him in when he is more anxious. He calms down in there. He does have a few girlfriends in the flock, but is extremely nervous around the others.

 

[brittfish]

My crossbeak cinnamon has been sick this week. She hasn't eaten anything substantial since Tuesday. Age does this from time to time and usually resolves within the week. We usually tube feed her with baby bird formula and some nutrition drench and meta cam. Last time we found that her chest feathers were caked with food so we weren't sure if that was what was causing it all along so we gave her a good bath and she started doing better.

This time on Tuesday I checked her feathers first and she was a mess so I gave her a good bath. She still didn't start eating so Thursday, Friday and Saturday (yesterday) We gave her a dose of metacam squirted into her beak. Still didn't start eating. Was walking around interested in pecking things, drinking water and sitting on us. Yesterday evening we decided her poops were looking like she needed food so I mixed up baby bird formula with warm watwr and nutridrench and tube fed her. She seemed to do fine last night and had some better looking poops. This morning her crop is really full, feels firm and she is drooling. Sounds like she is having some difficulty breathing. Keepso shaking her head to clear the saliva. Doesn't smell bad though.

I'm so worried that I injured her crop with the tube when tubing her last night and it's infected. Not sure how else she would have an impacted crop because she can't eat anything other than wet layer crumbles.

Also the tube I have used before and it is not sterile I always run water through it and whip it out but maybe she got something from that?

Being a cross beak is so different from regular chickens and their symptoms. Any thoughts?? Going to bring her to the vet tomorrow but everywhere is closed today!

 

[artsyrobin]

@brittfish how is she doing?