Hi all,
I am a first time chicken owner and would like some advice. I have an 11-week old Rhode Island Red cockerel, and I just noticed recently that he has a space between his upper and lower beaks even when he has it closed. I decided to look around to see if anyone else has had this problem, and I am not coming up with much on the message boards.
I do see several threads on scissor beak or cross beak, but from what I can tell, the cockerels beaks are almost aligned completely straight, although the top beak sits just a fraction to the left of the bottom, but it is barely even noticeable even when you are looking.
He is a bit thinner than the hens, but I figured that was just a slender cockerel build. He is at the feeder a lot, and seems to be eating fine, although when I threw a mealworm down in the grass beside him, he pecked the ground beside it and missed the worm.
Has anyone else had any experience with this type of gap in between his beaks? Should I be worried?
Jessi
I am a first time chicken owner and would like some advice. I have an 11-week old Rhode Island Red cockerel, and I just noticed recently that he has a space between his upper and lower beaks even when he has it closed. I decided to look around to see if anyone else has had this problem, and I am not coming up with much on the message boards.
I do see several threads on scissor beak or cross beak, but from what I can tell, the cockerels beaks are almost aligned completely straight, although the top beak sits just a fraction to the left of the bottom, but it is barely even noticeable even when you are looking.
He is a bit thinner than the hens, but I figured that was just a slender cockerel build. He is at the feeder a lot, and seems to be eating fine, although when I threw a mealworm down in the grass beside him, he pecked the ground beside it and missed the worm.
Has anyone else had any experience with this type of gap in between his beaks? Should I be worried?
Jessi
