2 month old with crooked beak, Pics Added

[emsevers]

I have my 2month olds outside in a penned of area where my older hens can see them. When I went out today to check on them I found one of the babies heads had been pecked on badly and it's beak is a little off now. I have no idea how this happened. I don't think any other animals could get in at them except maybe one of my red sex-links maybe got at it some how. I've cleaned up her wounds and brought her inside. She seems totally fine. She doesn't act like she's in pain and she is still eating. Will her beak ever go back to normal or is she permanently injured? Is this something she can live with if she continues to eat or does it get worse once it starts?

 

[Judy]

Quote:
I'm far from expert, only know what I read here, but this will bump you. "Scissor beak" or "crossed beak" is an inherited skull deformity. My guess is that the chick was pecked by its agemates because chickens are good at identifying sick or defective mates and will attack them.

You will get lots of results if you use "scissor beak" for a search.

 

[emsevers]

So maybe the scissor beak didn't happen because it was attacked but it developed over time? This doesn't sound like very good news. From what I've read sound like everyone would cull it. Is that right?

 

[Wynette]

You'll get mixed answers on whether to cull or not if it's crossbeak.

I had one once that lived to laying age, then died after she began to lay. Her beak was VERY crossed. I took her to a vet every 6 weeks to have it drilled down. While that made it easier for her to eat, I will tell you she was at the feeder CONSTANTLY. So, it took her forever to get what she needed. She never reached full size, either. But, she was happy and top of the pecking order while she lived. And, hers was quite bad.

It would be great if you could get a picture - if it IS crossbeak and it's not a bad case of it, she may end up just fine (you'll need to offer deep dishes to feed, as they sort of scoop the feed up rather than peck at it since their beaks don't meet in order to pick up feed).

 

[[email protected]]

I have an 8 month old twisted beak chicken. I just love her. Mine is genetic and was slight when she was a baby and now is VERY crossed and it is very difficult for her to eat. I finally found the answer, but it is quite a bit of work. she needs to eat cat food mixed with laying crumble and water in a small plastic cup place in a heavy ceramic bowl so it does not tip over. she scoops and must be fed separately so others don't push her out. I feed her this was at least 2 times per day and she has really gained weight. She was starving before this, just not able to get enough nourishment but working at it all day. She is so motivated to survive, she comes in the kitchen for her cat food. I do also trim her beak which is a problem, because the top grows like a parrot and the bottom sticks out the the side. I also hang bear sized cups on the wall of the coop so she can get her head in and scoop.

 

[emsevers]

I got some pictures of her. I am so sick about this whole thing. She was really starting to fill in and be a really pretty bird. Here are a couple of pictures.

 

[Wynette]

This doens't appear to be a badly crooked beak, but it's kind of hard to tell since she's not looking directly at the camera. I would urge you to take her to an avian vet and have them sand down her beak. Some folks do it on their own, but that's something I just don't feel comforable with...eating is pretty darn important, and I woudn't want to mess them up to the point of making it worse. The crossbeak I had was MUCH worse. Your girl may be able to cope okay with hers!

 

[cwildeky]

Alas, I think I'm going to have to cull my poor BuckBeak. She's a 2-year-old Americauna whose beak has gotten progressively more scissored since chickhood, ... I guess it's officially gotten too bad for her to eat now; she's been puny since Sunday. Last night I actually tried feeding her with a tiny syringe of very watery mash but I'm not feeling too positive about the prospects of that.

Anyway, just thought I'd write and add to the "it's amazing how long they can live if you give them daily mash and soft food in deep containers" (I hand-fed mine her scratch even though I don't think she ever got any) pile. She made it to normal size and seemed to lead a pretty decent life overall, though she was always a bit frantic for food, the poor thing.

I hope I didn't do her a disservice by keeping her around this long. However, she was flying out of the yard as recently as last week, so I console myself by thinking at least she had the strength to make it over a 10' fence for the last year and a half!

For the record, it's her bottom beak that is truly off and the top has curved down like a parrot bill.

Thanks for all the advice you guys have offered others; I've appreciated reading your posts in my "scissorbeak" search. I'm sad but I think it's time.

 

[emsevers]

I just put her back outside far away from the mean birds and she seems to be doing very well. She pecks at the ground and acts just like the others so I'm hopeful.

 

[chickeypoo]

I had one crooked beak chick. he lived two years. but eventually passed away cuz he wasn't a fluffy/heavy bird like the rest. His was genetic. I didn't realize how bad it was until i picked him up and seen/felt how thin he really was. So, i took a toenail clipper(the big one) and clipped off the top beak cuz his curved over and hung almost like a parrot beak. and he was fine for a while then after a couple months id have to do it again. but, it wasn't like he was starving to death. but he was smaller than normal so i did find it a bit too late. but he was a happy bird and he he was a cuddler.

so. i guess what im saying is.. don't think you absolutely have to cull it because it's crossed, you just have to do some maintanance.

Sue