6 Month Old Chick With Scissor Beak

[veery67eggy]

My 6 month old golden polish named Tilly has scissor beak. She has had it for about 5 months. She is pretty small but eats okay and drink fine. She has four sisters the same age as her who have all laid their first egg. Tilly has not yet laid her first egg. She is active and friendly and could probably keep living with scissor beak, but I want to know more about filing her beak. I tried it once but was too nervous that I was doing it wrong. Could anyone with experience handling this give me some specific advice? Thank you! (Here are some photos

 

[staceyj]

Someone else had a thread up yesterday! Here’s a link.


https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/crossbeak-trimming-help.1269700/#post-20402201
That person did a great job and so can you!
They posted some “after pics” so you can see how improved the chick’s beak is.

 

[staceyj]

Btw, Tilly is very cute!

 

[happylittlehens]

I have a crossbeak EE. She is 5 years old. I use dog nail clippers and a nail file to trim/file her beak. I wrap her in a towel with just her head poking out and lay her on my lap while doing it to keep her calm. Because she gets handled so much she is extremely friendly and follows me around like a dog. She’s the sweetest bird!

 

[veery67eggy]

Btw, Tilly is very cute!

Thank you for the advice! I'll give it a try this evening or tomorrow and I'll let you know how it goes

 

[littlepip]

we had a few chicks, and one of them had scissor beak. you may need to help the chicken eat, if it's too severe. we mixed chicken food with yogurt, then fed it to the chick that way. a file will come in handy for a little fix-up. don't ever try to force the beak back to normal, as this will harm the chick. hope this helps!

 

[veery67eggy]

Hi! Sorry to those of you who responded and I never replied. I ended up filing her beak a bit and she has been doing much better. Eating an drinking is much easier for her, and she started to try eating more fruit and greens. She used to not eat any so this is a huge improvement. Thank you to everyone who gave me advice and gave Tilly a better chance!

Someone else had a thread up yesterday! Here’s a link.


https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/crossbeak-trimming-help.1269700/#post-20402201
That person did a great job and so can you!
They posted some “after pics” so you can see how improved the chick’s beak is.