Any hope for this cross beak baby? Pic included

[chickensarefamily2me]

Any hope for this little one? Her name is Ebony, and she is only two to two and a half weeks old. I posted a topic on her, but I noticed today that her beak is worse than it was last Thursday. I've got a photo, but it's a little blurry. She wouldn't sit still.

Ebony is a little smaller, and not as big, but she can still drink, and eat. Her friends are bigger. She's a black Bantam.

Please, if you have to, give me the bad news as gently as you can. I'm already worried about another bird, named Ursula.

 

[ParadiseFoundFarm]

Be quick and merciful. She will starve to death.

 

[Munkeesmama]

It depends on how much care you want to provide. It may or may not get worse. We ha a cross beaked bird. We would trim her beak and offer her deeper feeding dishes. She didn't grow as well as the other chicks, and only lived to be about 6 months.

 

[AHappychick]

that cross beak looks pretty severe and may get worse. I think survival though is often up to the bird and if it can eat and live a decent life. is it under weight? if not and if you don't want to cull don't, but you will have to provide food it can eat. if it is loosing weight or suffering in any way you will need to take care of it (there are many humane ways to do so) Dont breed this chicken in the future so that the cross beak is not passed down, and if you are hatching from your own try to find the cause or bird that is passing that down. Sometimes it happens in the egg as a defect other times it can be a genetic problem. The fact that you have 2 of them makes me think maybe genetic.

good Luck!

 

[chickensarefamily2me]

She's a little smaller, and is probably underwieght. I want to do everything I can for her. How do I cull her? I don't have dog clippers, or anything like that. The most I have is fingernail clippers. Ursula isn't cross beaked, she's just sick.

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

I have a cross beak who is an adult egg layer now

She was pretty bad as well and the only things I had to be sure she had was full water and food ALWAYS because she could not grab she had to scoop. And I had to keep her beak trimmed and that made it a little easier for her to get her food. She was nice and fat and did great with her cooked beak. I will try to find my photo of her beak...I know I have one someplace on this darn computer lol.

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

How do I cull her?

My husband had to cull a few of our chicks and he uses a very sharp ax (a smaller one obviously) and its quick for them. He just lays them on a stump and they usually never move a muscle. he also has two nails pounded into the stump in a V shape to hold them there a little. Not fun but at least she/he won't suffer...if you notice she is smaller already you prob won't have much luck with her

Mine was never smaller then the others she kept right up there with them and in fact was the top of the pecking order as an adult.

Sorry

 

[chickensarefamily2me]

I don't wanna kill her. I also don't want her to be miserable. I'm watching her eat, and I can tell when she gets a bite, cuz she wolfs it down. If I knew how to trim her beak, she'd probably be better off. She doesn't act sick, or injured. She plays with the others, and drinks just fine. Her tounge dries out easily though. She's as tall as the others, and scratches like them. I think she has a will to live, and her mother is a big crybaby. Her feathers are pretty. She eats just as much hair as the others do. They try to eat my hair. I don't let them though. I'm lying to myself, aren't I?

 

[kelar]

Like happychick posted, these DO tend to get worse as the chick grows. If it were me, I'd just keep a close eye on the chick and if it cannot eat, you will have to do the kind thing. I always give them a chance and see if they can get by, but this one does look really bad so I'd not hold out a lot of hope. So sorry

 

[chickensarefamily2me]

*sigh* I've had to do the right thing before... With my first bird. I'll know. But for now, I'm going to keep her as healthy as I can.