acquired beak injury/ scissor beak

[Cebarmlds]

2 week chick, wasn’t like this at 9am this morning!

 

[Tookie]

That cross beak looks pretty bad. It will get worse as it gets older.

 

[Cebarmlds]

I thought it must have been an injury because it wasn't like that this morning but after reading more it seems it can just happen from genetics?? it's so sad this can happen. Is it preventable with certain vitamins? I thought maybe the jaw was dislocated and I held it so the beak came together but that doesn't help. She is trying to eat and must be getting some food but it won't be enough, I know that.... I will have to cull :-(
I wonder if certain hatcheries have a higher incidence of crossbeak...

 

[Tookie]

I thought it must have been an injury because it wasn't like that this morning but after reading more it seems it can just happen from genetics?? it's so sad this can happen. Is it preventable with certain vitamins? I thought maybe the jaw was dislocated and I held it so the beak came together but that doesn't help. She is trying to eat and must be getting some food but it won't be enough, I know that.... I will have to cull :-(
I wonder if certain hatcheries have a higher incidence of crossbeak...

Cross beak is usually genetic, so I don't think you can prevent it.

 

[NatJ]

I thought it must have been an injury because it wasn't like that this morning

Do you mean it wasn't crooked in the morning?

Because I'm sure the lengths of the upper & lower beak did not change much in the course of a single day. (The upper beak couldn't grow that fast, and the shape of the lower beak shows that it didn't break off short.)

 

[Cebarmlds]

Do you mean it wasn't crooked in the morning?

Because I'm sure the lengths of the upper & lower beak did not change much in the course of a single day. (The upper beak couldn't grow that fast, and the shape of the lower beak shows that it didn't break off short.)

It wasn't crooked @ 8am when I moved all chicks to a tote and cleaned the brooder then returned the chicks to the brooder.
I did notice one chick had a longer upper beak.

 

[NatJ]

It wasn't crooked @ 8am when I moved all chicks to a tote and cleaned the brooder then returned the chicks to the brooder.
I did notice one chick had a longer upper beak.

I hadn't realized they could go from straight to crooked so quickly. That's very interesting.

it seems it can just happen from genetics??

That matches what I have read, too.

Is it preventable with certain vitamins?

To the best of my knowledge, no it cannot be prevented with any vitamins or dietary supplements or anything else

She is trying to eat and must be getting some food but it won't be enough, I know that.... I will have to cull :-(

Some people do keep crossbeak chicks alive, and in reasonable health, with some extra care. The extra care usually includes special care at mealtimes (such as wet feed in a deep dish, with the chick eating separately from the rest so it doesn't get pushed aside while eating), and regularly trimming the beak (because it doesn't wear down properly like a normal chicken's beak would.)

But if you are not able or willing to provide extra care, I agree that culling is the way to go.

I wonder if certain hatcheries have a higher incidence of crossbeak...

One hatchery has a note on their website, saying their Easter Eggers have about a 1% rate of crossbeak. Since they don't mention that for other breeds, I assume it's much less common in them. I don't know whether other hatcheries have it too (I might not have noticed, or they might be keeping quiet about it.)
https://www.cacklehatchery.com/product/easter-egger/

 

[Cebarmlds]

I hadn't realized they could go from straight to crooked so quickly. That's very interesting.





One hatchery has a note on their website, saying their Easter Eggers have about a 1% rate of crossbeak. Since they don't mention that for other breeds, I assume it's much less common in them. I don't know whether other hatcheries have it too (I might not have noticed, or they might be keeping quiet about it.)
https://www.cacklehatchery.com/product/easter-egger/

If the chick was cross beaked this morning when I cleaned, it was very slight at the time, but like I said earlier I did notice a longer upper on one, so yes it happened quick.


It's an EE from Hoovers.

 

[JustBabyMargo]

If it just suddenly crossed like that, I would guess it is due to injury, not genetics nor vitamin deficiency. Generally, you can tell when a chick’s beak is starting to cross, and it will slowly get worse up until the age that they finish the majority of their growing, but I have never heard of a beak being perfectly normal, and then suddenly not, especially not in the span of 1-2 hours. It looks like the bottom beak got pushed in and bent weird, but it’s hard to say for certain. Anyways, I hope this doesn’t cause too much trouble, and I hope you can figure out what’s best for you as well as the chick.

 

[Cebarmlds]

If it just suddenly crossed like that, I would guess it is due to injury, not genetics nor vitamin deficiency. Generally, you can tell when a chick’s beak is starting to cross, and it will slowly get worse up until the age that they finish the majority of their growing, but I have never heard of a beak being perfectly normal, and then suddenly not, especially not in the span of 1-2 hours. It looks like the bottom beak got pushed in and bent weird, but it’s hard to say for certain. Anyways, I hope this doesn’t cause too much trouble, and I hope you can figure out what’s best for you as well as the chick.

That’s what I thought, an injury at first now I’m not sure. There’s no blood I pulled on the lower jaw, thinking it was jammed, maybe out of the socket type of thing but nothing changed. I didn’t say it was perfectly normal, the upper beak was longer
Thanks for your comment