Breed differentiation or Wry neck?

[Mommi1347]

Well, isn't she cute
Yes, I agree she has a beak deformity. It's good that she's eating/drinking and growing!

You're doing good - a lot of times all you can do is monitor them - you may want to weigh her so you can track her weight to see that she's gaining weight. And watch that she's not having trouble eating - I'm sure you have read up keeping cross beak chickens - providing a deeper dish if needed, wet feed, sometimes a beak needs to be trimmed, etc. - but right now if she's doing great - then I wouldn't change a thing.

Sometimes when there's a deformity, there could be other developmental issues that come to light as they mature. Many people have birds that may have a little something wrong and just adore them as pets - I love her expression LOL I would say, if you are planning on breeding/hatching eggs - I would not use her for breeding, just in case the deformity is genetic and is passed along - it very well could have been an incubation problem, but you never know. Anyway....enjoy her! I would

Thank you for the update.

Yes she is definitely special! No plans to breed just looking for eggs if she can. No pressure, Ruthie is just my special pet! I will start tracking her actual weight and compare it to the other gals. Just from picking her up she is lighter but getting heavier. I did notice she doesn’t eat as much of the treats I provide and she like when I spray the run and eats all the ground feed that gets wet. I will start making her a special bowl! Thank you!!!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Yes she is definitely special! No plans to breed just looking for eggs if she can. No pressure, Ruthie is just my special pet! I will start tracking her actual weight and compare it to the other gals. Just from picking her up she is lighter but getting heavier. I did notice she doesn’t eat as much of the treats I provide and she like when I spray the run and eats all the ground feed that gets wet. I will start making her a special bowl! Thank you!!!

Well, I would compare her weight to herself instead of the others - likely she will remain slightly smaller than them, hard to tell, she may catch up.
I would track more to see that she's gaining and once she comes into lay - weigh her every few weeks just to make sure she's staying pretty close to the same weight. Hens do get a bit bigger over the course of a year it seems to me.

The wet feed may be easier for her to eat since it clumps and she's not having to pick up individual pieces. Some provide a fairly deep dish for them to eat out of - they learn to "scoop" the wet feed.

She's a cutie that's for sure!