Americana and curved beak

[Jray217]

Hi all! Just wondering if I should be concerned with my 4 week old Americana’s top beak being extremely curved and her bottom beak is very short. She also has a small “lump” under bottom beak. She seems to be eating well, but definitely cannot peck like other chicks and is smaller than my other chicks her age for sure. Is this common to the breed, or anything I need to do at this point? I have different breeds of chicks, so no other Americana chicks to compare her to.

 

[Amer]

Beak issues are more abundant in bearded breeds but by no means common or normal. You will just have to manage it as best you can and love her the way she is (and definitely don't breed her and proliferate the trait.)

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Your chick has parrot beak and this is the second time I've seen a case of it on here (though this one is worse). She will be fine, but she'll need extra care to ensure her beak doesn't get too long, thus making it impossible for her to eat.
If you can, try trimming the top beak back a little. You can trim some of it with a sharp set of finger nail clippers and file the rest down with an Emery board file, or if you're worried about trimming, you could file it all. (I trim because it's faster and the bird can get away faster.) You'll want to wrap her up in a towel first to keep her calm while you work on her beak. If you use nail clippers, don't trim unless she's still to avoid injuries on both her and yourself!

Here, I screenshotted your picture and drew a blue line where the quick is. You want to trim lower than that and not go past it. (It would be best to leave a little space between the quick because if you trim too close it it, it could easily get punctured until it recedes.)

Trim down the top beak every two weeks or so that way her beak doesn't get too long. Watch both top and bottom beak to ensure that the sides of her beak isn't curling in. If they do, you'll need to file those as well. I haven't seen it as a problem with anyone's birds yet, but I get concerned about infections if the sides curl into the inside.
You can also place bricks near her feeder and waterer for her to wipe her beak off onto. That will help it not grow as fast. Give her deep water and food dishes so she can easily eat and drink as well as avoiding injury from pecking to hard by trying to reach.

On the lump, I'm not exactly sure what that is... Is it hard or squishy? Does the skin appear purple like it's swollen? It might have something to do with her beak, but I'm not sure.

 

[rosemarythyme]

My guess on the lump is it's her tongue or part of the tongue due to the beak being so undersized.

Unfortunately she might not survive if she's having trouble eating and becomes malnourished. In addition to deep bowls that she can dig into, wetting or fermenting the feed might help it clump up and make it easier for her to eat.

 

[Jray217]

Thank you all for your input and advice!!! I’ll be taking extra care and do what I can for this baby. She really is so sweet..