I have had several crossbeak chicks born amongst my easter eggers through the years. My line of easter eggers ALSO came from ideal hatchery. Even tho none of the original chicks i purchased had the defect, the issue has arisen in their progeny almost every year since. So there is an apparent recessive gene thingy going on. Some cases have been very mild, & the chicks did just fine as they grew. They maintain their body weight, and their adult egg-laying rate is comparable to all the others. With other chicks, the crossbeak quickly became severe within a few weeks time, & those chicks failed to keep pace with the growth of their siblings. I feel certain the severe cross-beak chicks couldnt properly eat out of the typical chick feeders, & that may be why they didnt grow properly. (Since broody hens hatch all chicks, i often never notice the cross-beaks before age 3-4 weeks, sometimes even later). By looks of your photo, I suspect your chick's issue may quickly become too severe to eat out of a standard chick feeder, since it looks pretty young in photo, & the issue seems to grow worse during first few weeks of a chicks life. If convenient, u can give it feed in a flat shallow pan, with a raised lip to help cut down on feed waste, because the chick(s) WILL scratch in the feed. A flat broad surface will allow chick to "scoop" food into its beak to eat. U will soon know if it can ingest enough food to continue to grow properly. Ive never culled a cross-beak without giving it a chance to thrive. Oddly, the crossbeaks that survived have 100% been pullets. I put them with my flock of older egg-layers whose eggs i dont use to hatch chicks from. Even tho i have never intentionally hatched a cross-beak's eggs, every year usually get at least one easter egger crossbeak. One thing i found is that the crossbeaks of ALL ages are always Very Happy to see me put more food out. They are very friendly, and with their antics and body language let me know how much they appreciate me bringing food!
not even worth the phone call
