Anyone have cross/scissor beak chickens?

[Cindosha]

One of our 8 week old Easter Eggers has cross/scissor beak so we are keeping a good eye on her. It almost seems like her bottom lip (beak) is paralyzed, like she has no control over it. She seems to be eating ok, we feed her from a typical hanging poultry feeder and make sure that the feed is up to the edge so she can scoop/reach it. It seems that if it's not level with the bottom side of the feeder, she can't or won't eat from it. I give the other chicks watermelon rinds or vegetables/corncobs but she does not seem to be able to peck at those treats. I held her and tried hand feeding her some tiny pieces of the watermelon but that really didn't go to well. I did manage to get a few little pieces in her mouth though. We are watching to make sure that she is not getting too skinny and she seems to be managing her weight but I really have no way of weighing her to make sure she's eating enough. Any tips for me?? And her???

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Use a baby scale to weigh her and weigh a healthy bird the same age/sex/preferably breed/as her to compare

 

[Cindosha]

Use a baby scale to weigh her and weigh a healthy bird the same age/sex/preferably breed/as her to compare

haha!! I don't know if I would be able to get her to sit still long enough to be weighed!!

 

[AOrchard]

At her age she will probably still make baby chick distress cheeps if she's not getting enough to eat.

I had a four week old that got scissor beak. She did okay for a while but then her beak got worse so she struggled to eat and would cry all day because she was hungry. I rehomed her to an urban chicken person who feeds mash everyday, as I heard mash is easier for scissor beaks to eat.

 

[Cindosha]

At her age she will probably still make baby chick distress cheeps if she's not getting enough to eat.

I had a four week old that got scissor beak. She did okay for a while but then her beak got worse so she struggled to eat and would cry all day because she was hungry. I rehomed her to an urban chicken person who feeds mash everyday, as I heard mash is easier for scissor beaks to eat.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Wet feed in a deeper bowl would be easiest for her to eat. If she can't manage treats that's fine, as long as she can still eat her regular feed.

Depending on how her beak looks, you may need to do maintenance on it to help retain as much functionality as possible. I use an emery board to file down overgrowth and reshape the beak to a more "normal" shape.

 

[Cindosha]

Thank you for your helpful replies! I really appreciate it!!

 

[Chickassan]

I second the mash, she'll be absolutely filthy until she gets the hang of it but she'll eat very well.
The other kids would also love it, if you didn't want to make two separate batches of feed they'll happily eat it too.

 

[h2ocutiegirl]

Take a look at my post. It will help.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chick-born-cross-beak-and-blind.1500500/post-25081556

 

[h2ocutiegirl]

If you get a raised tilted cat feeding tray, that works best I've found. Also the KayTee feed I mentioned in my post so you make sure she is getting enough vitamins and nutrients and mix her chick feed in. It's makes it easier until they learn to use their beak. Also you'll have to shape the beak for her her whole life.