Baby chick missing bottom beak

[4chickns]

Has anyone ever seen this before? Our hen hatched a chick yesterday with a bottom beak that is so small it's almost non-existent. She cannot close her mouth. She had no problem hatching and is super spunky but I'm worried how she will do in the next couple of days. Mama chicken showed her how to drink today and she went through the motions but I can't imagine she was actually getting anything. Any help or advise is appreciated!
Thanks!

 

[azygous]

That's a great photo.

There's just one thing you can do that might allow the chick to obtain nourishment and survive. Moisten the feed. Or ferment the feed.

Even doing that, it may not be enough. If the chick can learn to eat feed in that form, it might make it, and it might even learn to drink enough water to survive. Not much else can be done but wait and see how resourceful it is.

Chicks are hatched with all sorts of genetic defects. One time here on BYC, someone had a chick with two beaks, the extra set located on the throat. Unfortunately, the thread wasn't updated, so we don't know if the chick survived.

 

[Lauren Kim]

Most likely a birth defection.

 

[pineapple416]

I would help her feed (x2 for moistening it) and give her water through a syringe or eye dropper until she figures it out on her own to keep her alive. I have never seen this before but I agree that it is probably a birth defect. Keep the thread updated and let us know how she does.

 

[4chickns]

Thank you all so much for the great responses! I will moisten the food for her and try getting her some water. I'm so nervous that she's going to aspirate when I give her water with a dropper, especially the way her mouth is so open, any advice on that? I'll try to get a picture with her mouth open

 

[pineapple416]

I would just give her water very slowly and carefully and see how it goes. If you do it slowly she shouldn't choke a lot and you will tell if she starts to. You could also try dipping her beak in the water and seeing if she seems to be getting any water that way, not sure if that would work though.

 

[4chickns]

This is her trying to drink water. She walked over on her own and sticks her beak in, throws her head back and starts flapping her tongue, it almost sounds like she's drinking but I can't be sure

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

I know that you probably don’t want to hear this, but it may be best to cull her if she can’t eat or drink.

 

[azygous]

Allow me to jump back in here. A genetic defect is a feature, not a bug as in a temporary health glitch. It is not going to miraculously grow a lower beak. This chick will either figure out how to drink and eat or it will perish.

You can tube feed it water and food, but realize you will need to do that every hour all day long until the chick is around eight weeks old, and then you will need to do it around four times a days until the chick is four months old, then twice a day from that point on. The entire life of the chicken.

This is not practical or fair to the chick. Offer the moist food, continue to make water easily available, and if the chick learns to eat and drink, that will be super. But if the chick becomes weak from dehydration, you have a choice to watch it die slowly in agony, or to euthanize it so it need not suffer the slow death.

 

[azygous]

That photo of the chick at the waterer is precious. There is an even chance this chick will learn to drink and eat. When a chicken drinks, they actually slurp and suck the liquid with their tongue. It's no doubt getting some water when it drinks. Whether it's enough to keep it hydrated will be the big question.