chick born with one eye and cross beak

[Gypsy07]

Why do they always move right when you press the button? Bah!
About 5,000 photos later, here's the best I could do:

The top part of her beak bends right round and actually points completely sideways.
This is exactly how I got her a month ago; I haven't trimmed it or anything yet.

 

[chkinut]

she looks absolutely sweet! and i know exactly what you mean about the silly chickens moving when you try to take a pic. well, looks like you guys will have to wait another 5 days or so before i can post a pic.....my friend doesn't have her camera either...and she's also computer illiterate as well anyway.....but that will be one of the 1st things i do when he walks in the door, is confiscate the camera! lol!!! i fed her some yogurt tonight...she ate very little of it....she mostly flicked it all away.....and she stands close to the waterer....but she still won't do it on her own yet.

 

[deerman]

Quote:
i hear ya....i thought of that too...he may have internal problems that i can't see.....i guess time will tell.....i have to try though....but i hate the thought of getting so attached if something DOES happen. but i guess i feel so strongly about it cuz i have an 11 year old son with special needs (Down's syndrome)....so my heart goes out to this lil' guy or girl. he sure is peepin up a storm in the brooder! question to Zoomum.....have you ever had to hand feed him with a paste that you made out of regular chicken food? i wonder if that's what i'll have to do. i still welcome all comments, even those advising to cull....i want to hear all the opinions and experience on this. i won't be offended if you believe in culling these chicks.....

I was worried about that too...the unforeseen problems he may have and the obvious genetic issues but I couldn't help but get attached. I figured I would give him as long and as happy a life as I could. If he didn't make it, then it was what was meant to happen. that honestly is the hardest part about taking in chicks/chickens with special needs.

I've never had to hand feed him but I did try the mash because others suggested it. What I found is it clogged up his beak. He never had a problem eating the dry crumbles so I just let him have that. They thought that might make him gain weight faster. They also suggested other baby parrot food etc but I just stuck with the chick food and then the grower food. Now he is eating layer crumbles and doing fine. He's put on a lot of weight in the past few months and has filled out nicely. I think a lot of it had to do with keeping him with other chickens instead of isolating him. It gave him more of a will to live, in my opinion anyway.

I see nothing wrong with people who want to spend time raising chicks like this.......but DON'T let them breed , because crooked beaks are genetic, in case of rooster could have it capon, as far as a hen, just make sure you know her egg ,if you incubate.

I cull ones like that, but more power to those who can raise them.

 

[True Grit]

Quote:
Aww, Gypsy 07 does your hen lay eggs? From what I can see she looks nice and healthy.
I don't have a rooster so no breeding is possible. I wrote to Randall Burkey to tell them they might want to review their suppliers as I also had a curly toed girl out of the 5 chicks. They never wrote back.

 

[chkinut]

well, no problem about hatching her eggs here, i can't have roosters (nor can i have chickens!! lol)....still, i'm hoping to talk hubby into letting me keep her if she's a roo....i mean, the way i see it....how's it any different than having a parrot? he could sleep in a cage at night and wear chicken diapers during the day.....that's my thoughts on it.....anyway, she still is not eating or drinking on her own. i guess i'll go out today and see if i can find a little bulb syringe that you use to give babies meds....maybe that would work better than the syringe. when she walks, she kinda sways to her right (the side with no eye). she tries to preen, and she does walk around with her friends....but she sleeps a lot more often than they do and she's not as spritely. even though i may help her eat, it would be great if she could do it on her own like so many chickens i've read about.

 

[Gypsy07]

Quote:
I'm not totally sure if she's laying yet. She's supposed to be, and the other nine I got her with definitely are. I'm assuming she is, just cause she's the same size and weight as the others and looks nice and healthy.

I DO have roosters, and just about every egg I crack into the frying pan has a bullseye in it. But I wouldn't want to incubate any of my hybrids' eggs anyway so there's nothing to worry about there. My Leghorns' eggs are pure white and my Marsh Daisies' eggs are cream coloured and tiny so it's easy to tell them all apart.

That's quite bad that they never wrote back to you. I'd have thought they'd WANT to know about problems like that, so they could do something to sort it out?

 

[chkinut]

well, as much as i hate to do this....i think Clarabelle may have to be culled. poor lil' thing. i have been trying to feed her a mix of yogurt and chick starter (made into a paste and then mixed with the yogurt). i went out and bought a bulb syringe, the kind you use to give babies meds....and that worked a lot better for ME....but she still wouldn't take the food. at 1st, she pecked at it eagerly a couple times....then she didn't want anything else to do with it. i saw her today trying to peck at the chick food (and yes, it's in a deep container) and she just couldn't do it.....she didn't try very much....just a few pecks here and there...all the while peeping and peeping and peeping. she peeps constantly unless she's in a deep sleep. sometimes she'll peep very loudly, other times she just peeps those little peeps over and over again. i run a home daycare, and one of the moms is a school teacher who hatches eggs every year for her students. she says she gives the chicks that need culling to her janitor and he takes care of it. so i'm going to ask if maybe he could help, cuz i do NOT want to see Clarabelle suffer....and the constant peeping tells me she is suffering.

 

[ZooMummzy]

 

[Buugette]

My Little Gray was born with a cross-beak. I did a lot of reading on the internet... and decided to do what I could for her. She is now almost a year old and doing great.

About once a month I file her beak. I use my dog's Pedi-Paws dremil like sander and it works great. I keep her upper beak from pushing her lower beak off to the side. As long as I keep her filed neat and tidy... all is good. I shape the right side and sand the front tip. I make sure she can use her beak to pick up food... don't over sand...

I noticed it was starting to really seperate and twist... that is why I started shaping and sanding. She is used to it now... and all goes well. She is happy, healthy and unless you really look at her face, you can't tell.

Just my 2 cents...

D

 

[chkinut]

Quote:
Clarabelle is a pretty serious case. it's like the right side of her face and upper beak got smashed down. i really am trying with her.....i don't know what else to do. did your chick eat on her own when she was days old? what was your care for her when she was very young?