Beak concern with 4 week old chick

[khorvath]

First time nervous chick mom here. When I got my chicks, one of them had a much longer, pointy beak. 4 weeks later, it is still there and I'm concerned it is going to cause issues. "She" seems to be eating fine and gaining weight right along with the other chicks. But now it seems she can't close her mouth all the way. Please note, this is NOT scissor beak in the sense that they crisscross sideways. If you look at her head on, they are in alignment. But I worry this may change if things stay as they are. Is this something that will go away if I give her something to file her beak on? Do I need to file or trim? Not excited about the idea of trimming but I don't want this to get worse.

 

[Dottie the Chicken]

Hmm, I don't think I've ever had this problem before. You'll probably need to trim the beak. Maybe somebody else can tell you where to trim, in order to not hit any possible veins? Good luck!

 

[elisabeth_]

Does the chick’s beak seem to be overlapping on either side?
Do you think you could get more pictures, like a front view or a view from the other side?

I’m only asking because it is possible you have a scissor beak chicken on your hands. My hen started out like that. She is a year old now and doing fine though, mild cases like that are nothing to worry about.

 

[elisabeth_]

Does the chick’s beak seem to be overlapping on either side?
Do you think you could get more pictures, like a front view or a view from the other side?

I’m only asking because it is possible you have a scissor beak chicken on your hands. My hen started out like that. She is a year old now and doing fine though, mild cases like that are nothing to worry about.

I just wanted to make it clear, scissor beaks do not always ‘cross sideways’ at first like you said. I can show you early pictures of my hen if it would be helpful.

 

[FluffyBottomBantams]

I’ve got a nearly grown bantam nh red cockerel that has scissor beak. just trimmed the heck out of it and it’s fine now. You should be able to do the same, just trim in small increments to avoid hitting the quick. Best of luck

 

[elisabeth_]

I’ve got a nearly grown bantam nh red cockerel that has scissor beak. just trimmed the heck out of it and it’s fine now. You should be able to do the same, just trim in small increments to avoid hitting the quick. Best of luck

Agree. Also, I have some rough stones outside for my scissor beak to sharpen her beak on, and it helps a lot!

 

[khorvath]

Does the chick’s beak seem to be overlapping on either side?
Do you think you could get more pictures, like a front view or a view from the other side?

I’m only asking because it is possible you have a scissor beak chicken on your hands. My hen started out like that. She is a year old now and doing fine though, mild cases like that are nothing to worry about.

Yes please share pics. I'll go take more in a bit. When you look at it head on, it looks exactly like my other chicks. the top beak covers the bottom beak on both sides. Will post more later.

 

[elisabeth_]

Yes please share pics. I'll go take more in a bit. When you look at it head on, it looks exactly like my other chicks. the top beak covers the bottom beak on both sides. Will post more later.

(Sorry it took so long, I had to hunt for them lol)

Here is baby Skippy. She looked pretty normal, but I started to notice her beak was leaning to the side and (like you said about your little chick) her beak was very pointy and pointed down.



As she got older, it was getting worse. Her beak was leaning more and started to part a little bit.

The ‘scissor’ didn’t start until she was a few months old.

I was really worried because every thing I read said to cull her or she would starve and die.
I’m proud to say that Skippy is happy and healthy. I have never had to trim her beak before, she keeps it filed herself on the stones around her coop (they free range). I used to have tap waterers, but I have had to use traditional waterers so that it would be easier for her, but that is the only difference. She is my sweetest hen.


Good luck with your chicken!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Possibly parrot beak - the lower beak is too short for the upper, which hooks down. Maintenance is probably similar to crossbeak but really need to be careful if trying to trim or file down a chick's beak since they're so small. Since it's not severe yet might want to hold off on that until it's a bit bigger.

 

[Saaniya]

First time nervous chick mom here. When I got my chicks, one of them had a much longer, pointy beak. 4 weeks later, it is still there and I'm concerned it is going to cause issues. "She" seems to be eating fine and gaining weight right along with the other chicks. But now it seems she can't close her mouth all the way. Please note, this is NOT scissor beak in the sense that they crisscross sideways. If you look at her head on, they are in alignment. But I worry this may change if things stay as they are. Is this something that will go away if I give her something to file her beak on? Do I need to file or trim? Not excited about the idea of trimming but I don't want this to get worse.

Hmm seems like a cross beak issue but at this stage it's very likely to heal and Recover fast . Feed him Supplemental Riboflavin and other multi-vitamins just file his beak a little which seems more curved don't cut onlh file hopefully he will get Recover .

All cross beak (mild) can recover in their chick ages if multi-vitamins hit at right time especially Riboflavin ..