Baby chick has beak that is slightly misaligned.

[chicks071123]

Hey all I have an Ameracuana that has a slightly misaligned beak. It is misaligned on the side. She seems to be eating and drinking okay. Should I be concerned?

 

[cottontail farm]

How old is it? I've only had one chick with a crossbeak and it got progressively worse as the chick grew, I had to cull it.

 

[chicks071123]

She is 3 weeks old

 

[LadyAchee]

Pictures would help alot! Most cross beaks can live a normal life. Some people file them down if needed. You can give them deeper bowls to eat and drink from. Definitely be careful with the deep bowls while they are still young.

 

[chicks071123]

Thanks! I will try and get a good pic tomorrow and post

 

[Kathy'sKoop]

Pictures would help alot! Most cross beaks can live a normal life. Some people file them down if needed. You can give them deeper bowls to eat and drink from. Definitely be careful with the deep bowls while they are still young.

I have a four year old Americana with a pretty severe cross beak. She is smaller than the others but is healthy. I was determined to help this chick to eat. I tried everything, deep bowl and her own space and time to eat, tried a syringe with puréed food, tried hand feeding worms and anything I could get in her mouth. Our solution was a deep dog bowl, pellets on the bottom and mixture of crumbles, cracked corn, grit and more pellets in the top half of the bowl. She spends a long time eating. I check her crop later in the day. If it feels like there isn’t much in there I will hand feed her pellets. I have gotten very good at getting them in and takes me about twenty minutes to get the crop feeling full. I trim her beak about every three weeks with a dremel. I have spent so much time with her and she is my favorite chicken.

 

[LadyAchee]

I have a four year old Americana with a pretty severe cross beak. She is smaller than the others but is healthy. I was determined to help this chick to eat. I tried everything, deep bowl and her own space and time to eat, tried a syringe with puréed food, tried hand feeding worms and anything I could get in her mouth. Our solution was a deep dog bowl, pellets on the bottom and mixture of crumbles, cracked corn, grit and more pellets in the top half of the bowl. She spends a long time eating. I check her crop later in the day. If it feels like there isn’t much in there I will hand feed her pellets. I have gotten very good at getting them in and takes me about twenty minutes to get the crop feeling full. I trim her beak about every three weeks with a dremel. I have spent so much time with her and she is my favorite chicken.

That is so sweet! Many blessings to you sweet chicken Mama!

 

[Kella817]

I had a silkie hen with a VERY misaligned beak. She lived a great full life! Are and drank normally and never lost weight! We had no problems with our girl! I would wait to see if it causes any issues but I’m our case it did not and it was very noticeable and bad looking