Beginning stages of cross beak?

[kaydeetee86]

I’ve been searching and I still can’t find photos that look the same as my little guy’s development. I’d appreciate any input that you folks may have.

Brief summary before photos: My Ayam Cemani hatched on 09/17/2020, so he’s a couple days shy of 8 weeks at the time of this post. His brother is five days older, no sign of any deformities. Same roo, different hens. I got them from a local family as opposed to a hatchery.

He appears to eat without having trouble. His beak gets a little messy. He likes mealworms. I thought at first that he was just spoiled (lol) because he will only eat them out of my hand. If it drops, I have to pick it up and feed it to him again.

The only other thing I see is that he seems to have trouble preening.

No signs of bullying so far. His brother is very protective of him. They’re inseparable. We just set them up a little bachelor pad.

Thank you whoever has made it this far. I appreciate it. Am I on the right track? Does this look like mild crossbeak, or is it something I might be able to correct with filing? Is it going to get significantly worse?

I might be worrying more than I need to, but I’m new at this. I love the little dude, and I just want to give him the best life I possibly can.

09/20

10/04

10/24 - first time I noticed anything

10/31

11/10 - his beak always looks like the top photo, but isn’t always twisted like the bottom.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

It's possible it will get a bit crossed, but at that age I don't think it will get very bad

 

[kaydeetee86]

It's possible it will get a bit crossed, but at that age I don't think it will get very bad

Thank you. All of the photos I could find were severe cases, with the chicks pretty much showing it at birth. Which fortunately doesn’t match him, but I wasn’t sure what to expect with how rapidly they grow at this age.

Do you know if I should keep it filed? I had to do it a tiny bit because he got a tiny chip. He tolerates it (with big brother sitting on my shoulder supervising.)

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Thank you. All of the photos I could find were severe cases, with the chicks pretty much showing it at birth. Which fortunately doesn’t match him, but I wasn’t sure what to expect with how rapidly they grow at this age.

Do you know if I should keep it filed? I had to do it a tiny bit because he got a tiny chip. He tolerates it (with big brother sitting on my shoulder supervising.)

I'm sure filing doesn't hurt. Let me see if I have a picture of my Ayam with hers. Odds are yours won't get much worse than hers.
She's the frizzle, not sure if that picture picked it up

 

[kaydeetee86]

They’re both adorable! I’ve never seen an AC frizzle!

I can handle a cross like that with zero issue. I had to zoom really close to even see it. Is there anything that you have to do differently for her?

All of the sites that I read kept getting scarier. Like saying if it starts between 4 and 10 weeks, it will get REALLY BAD. Or how they woke up one day and the chicken’s beak was suddenly twisted after showing no signs. And I’m looking at my little buddy who is barely crossed and wondering what the heck I do next. I’d keep him and do my best regardless, as long as he wasn’t suffering.

Thanks for answering and sharing that. I know nothing is guaranteed, but it did help me feel a little better.

 

[member 592157]

I'm prob going to sound stupid but I feel like many years ago I read somewhere how you can correct crossbeak by trimming the offending beak a little at a time and eventually it would be fixed...is that true? I'm not even sure where I read it from it's been so long ago

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I'm prob going to sound stupid but I feel like many years ago I read somewhere how you can correct crossbeak by trimming the offending beak a little at a time and eventually it would be fixed...is that true? I'm not even sure where I read it from it's been so long ago

Not always. If it's a structural issue, it won't work. Mine came because her too beak got too long and pushed the bottom out slightly so that worked to stop it from progressing

 

[JacinLarkwell]

They’re both adorable! I’ve never seen an AC frizzle!

I can handle a cross like that with zero issue. I had to zoom really close to even see it. Is there anything that you have to do differently for her?

All of the sites that I read kept getting scarier. Like saying if it starts between 4 and 10 weeks, it will get REALLY BAD. Or how they woke up one day and the chicken’s beak was suddenly twisted after showing no signs. And I’m looking at my little buddy who is barely crossed and wondering what the heck I do next. I’d keep him and do my best regardless, as long as he wasn’t suffering.

Thanks for answering and sharing that. I know nothing is guaranteed, but it did help me feel a little better.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

She might do better with mashed food, but she's not starving.

 

[kaydeetee86]

I'm prob going to sound stupid but I feel like many years ago I read somewhere how you can correct crossbeak by trimming the offending beak a little at a time and eventually it would be fixed...is that true? I'm not even sure where I read it from it's been so long ago

That’s what I’m wondering in his case. I understand that some of it is structural in the skull. But it seemed like it helped him when I tried?