5 week old Americauna broken beak? Help! It happened overnight. Could be broken? Cross beak? Is there anything I can Do to help? She is acting normal

[LoveFluffyButts]

 

[sourland]

Looks like the beginning of cross beak - bird might be a cockerel.

 

[Barnette]

Was this sudden or did you notice this when you got him? How old is he? If he's only a few weeks old, this could be treated

 

[coach723]

Cross beak or scissor beak can be genetic, from being malpositioned in the egg, from incubation issues, or when older from injury to the skull or face. It may get worse as the chick grows. It will cause difficulty with eating and drinking, so monitoring is needed. I would get a weight on it, and do regular weighing, to make sure it's taking in enough. Sometimes trimming is needed as the beak will not wear normally and can get overgrown and cause more problems.
An article here:
https://meyerhatchery.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360017990812-Cross-Beak-Causes-and-Management

 

[LoveFluffyButts]

Was this sudden or did you notice this when you got him? How old is he? If he's only a few weeks old, this could be treated

It was sudden and she is only 5 1/2 weeks old. I’m thinking she injured herself.

 

[LoveFluffyButts]

Cross beak or scissor beak can be genetic, from being malpositioned in the egg, from incubation issues, or when older from injury to the skull or face. It may get worse as the chick grows. It will cause difficulty with eating and drinking, so monitoring is needed. I would get a weight on it, and do regular weighing, to make sure it's taking in enough. Sometimes trimming is needed as the beak will not wear normally and can get overgrown and cause more problems.
An article here:
https://meyerhatchery.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360017990812-Cross-Beak-Causes-and-Management

Her beak was perfectly normal until yesterday. Thank you for sharing.

 

[Barnette]

It was sudden and she is only 5 1/2 weeks old. I’m thinking she injured herself.

Okay. I suggest gentley applying inward pressure to the beak every day for about ten minutes. Be very careful and stop if you see any signs of pain. This should help the beak to slowly right itself. Good luck

 

[coach723]

If vet care is an option that you can afford, xrays might show if there was a facial or head fracture and whether it could be fixed to give a more normal bite. You would need an experienced avian vet.

 

[LoveFluffyButts]

Okay. I suggest gentley applying inward pressure to the beak every day for about ten minutes. Be very careful and stop if you see any signs of pain. This should help the beak to slowly right itself. Good luck

It does move back into place easily. I just don’t want to hurt her. Thank you.

 

[coach723]

If there is a fracture of some kind, it will likely need to be stabilized in order to heal in a more correct position. Otherwise it's likely to heal crooked, as it is. Being where it likely is, it's going to be hard to do that without impacting the birds ability to eat and drink, so if you want to try, I would highly recommend vet care for this one.