Beak Issue: Week Old Chick

[Bravo]

I have a week old chick that's lower beak isn't articulating with the upper beak. It is growing at a slight angle to the side. I didn't even notice there was a problem until just a few days ago so I think it is more of a recent development.

The chick is able to eat and is thriving. It will not be used for breeding, just home-use egg production in a backyard coop (no roosters) so I don't want to have to cull unless it becomes life-threatening.

Is there any way to correct the beak while the chick is growing to reduce the severity of the defect? Would a butterfly strip (adhesive suture) applied to the lower beak only to hold it in the correct position work?

Thanks for any advice!

 

[teach1rusl]

From what I've read (never experienced), this is called cross-beak. You can do a search of it here on the site (use the search option in the upper right). Most say that if they can still eat and drink well, they will be fine (most get deeper, wider dishes so the birds can kind of scoop feed). But keep a close eye, because some of these poor birds, if more severe, can slowly starve to death because they're unable to eat/drink well at all. Others will chime in I'm sure if you repost, and possibly add a photo so people can see if it's really bad or not. Good luck!