Baby chick missing bottom beak

[wyoDreamer]

I wonder if a nipple waterer would help her to drink?

 

[ThatParrotLady]

I'm interested in seeing her make it to adulthood and getting a prosthetic beak. Advances like that have helped endangered birds (Obviously she's not an endangered species) return to the wild and it's a chance to study how well it effects the quality of their lives. Like is a fake beak better or worse for them to get along with, how long can she manage, And for some people god forbid but humans can be awful, if someone or a dog defaced one of your prized birds and now they're no longer available for show but you love them and want to have some more chicks from them? Why waste a show bird when you can fix them for the most part and return that quality of life. I understand for alot of folks chickens are food and or pets, but the longevity of her life could prove useful for people who end up with injuries to their flock later in life who don't want to cull their birds.

 

[azygous]

I wonder if a nipple waterer would help her to drink?

Absolutely! A vertical nipple system would gravity feed the water into her beak. I watch my chickens drink from their vertical nipple system and they hit the nipple and then let the water run down into their mouths. That would be the way to go.

 

[4chickns]

Thank you, I was thinking about that kind of waterer as well, I checked our local tractor supply earlier today and couldn't find them. I've never used them before, do they work similarly to a hampster waterer? We have another farm supply store in the area, I'm going to call and see if they have any

 

[wyoDreamer]

If you PM me your address and I will send a couple of the nipples. You can put one on a water bottle and hang it low so your chick can reach it. I received some from a very nice person here on BYC and have a couple left from my project. I would be thrilled to pay it forward.

 

[4chickns]

If you PM me your address and I will send a couple of the nipples. You can put one on a water bottle and hang it low so your chick can reach it. I received some from a very nice person here on BYC and have a couple left from my project. I would be thrilled to pay it forward.

Thank you, that is so kind of you to offer! I called our local supply store though and they have them, so I'm going there now to pick them up. I'm hoping it helps her. She tries like crazy to eat but she hasn't gained any weight since this morning, so I'm worried she's not getting very much. She still has a lot of energy but it's only been 3 days since she hatched.

 

[sourland]

Can you or do you provide feed in a deep dish so that the chick can shove it's entire face into the feed ?

 

[4chickns]

Can you or do you provide feed in a deep dish so that the chick can shove it's entire face into the feed ?

I do, and she does shove her beak in there but she's still not getting the food all the way back to her mouth, and I can't tell if she is getting any with her tongue. I took a video earlier but I still couldn't tell. She has taken a liking to the mush today (also in a deep dish) so she must have figured out that it's a little easier, but I still don't know that she is getting enough. The new waterer is set up with some electrolytes, I hope she figures it out.

 

[azygous]

You could try the wet food for a few days, then weigh her. Then if you try deep, dry food for the exact same period of time, then weigh her, that should tell you which is working for her.

My hunch is that she will find moist food easier to eat - something that is sticky, like cooked oatmeal. I still recommend fermented feed. You might offer both wet and dry and see which she ends up eating mostly as a side by side experiment.

 

[christwodog]

Maybe some hard boiled egg mashed up would be easy for her to eat? Just to give her a little protein boost anyway...I am rooting for her!! I really hope she can make it work!!