Can Cinderella be helped?

[Mandymooligan]

I have always noticed her not being able to eat well. I thought she needed a top-knot trim. When I picked her up I was amazed at how skinny she was. I trimmed the top-knot that is when I noticed her beak deformity. It is not crossed and is very well aligned but the upper beak has a sharp curve to it. I put her by herself with a cup of feed that was deep and she is eating like she has never eaten before. POOR BABY!! Can it be trimmed to fix the problem or is this her lot in life? She drops or misses her food altogether whil eating on the ground. By the way I am not sure if she is male or female actually but we have called her "she" since day one. She is about 5 months old.

 

[Tres Amigas]

I've never dealt with this in practice, but I have read of being able to "adjust" a slightly misaligned beak by gently filing or trimming. It appears that if you, perhaps, trimmed the lower beak back just a little she might have an easier time of it. Looks like she has a sort of overbite. If you were to do this, I would use an overabundance of caution as far as how far to trim. It may be that taking just the sharp tip off and rounding might allow her to close her mouth better. Hopefully, someone with some practical experience will chime in with better advice. Good luck - that is a beautiful bird!

Edited because now that I look at her pic better, I can't really tell which is the longer, upper or lower -- maybe just taking both back a bit would help. It would get rid of the hook and close that side gap somewhat.

 

[Silkie-lover33]

I would trim her beak and make sure she can have some greens to peck at and a warm place to sleep at night, is she drinking?

 

[Mandymooligan]

It is hard to tell by the photo but her whole mouth growns downward, her bottom is as deformed as the top.

 

[Pharm Girl]

My Nando in the thread below had a hard time eating as well, for whatever reason. He dropped most food he picked off the ground. I used a small but deep cat food bowl filled full so he could scoop his food and I recommend giving her/him hard boiled egg yolk and some whites as well as yogurt to plump her up.

 

[Mandymooligan]

Quote:
Yes she drinks ok. I am thinking she is going to have to be a stay-at coop chicken instead of letting her out to roam. She seems a bit slow in her thinking processes, I can just walk out and pick her up and she always seems startled when I do it like she was not aware I was even there. I thought she was blind perhaps but she warns off the other younger chicks when they try to get into her food.