Chick developing cross beak- what to do??

[cmom]

There is really nothing you can do to prevent crossed beaks. I had one. I did have to trim her beak once in awhile. She couldn't eat pellets but did ok with crumbles. I had her for 3 years until one day when I was distracted a fox sneaked in and took her in the middle of the day. I did catch the fox and eliminated it. Gladys was very special.

These are what I used to trim her beak.

 

[cnielsen]

ah

I don't remember how long I held it for, it was a few years ago when I did this. Maybe however long she'll let you? I like to use nail clippers for beak and cat nail clippers for their actual toe nails. I'm a little concerned that the cat nail clippers would split the beak, that's why I don't use them on the beak, but that's just a concern, might not actually happen.
I'd say a year old when they are completely grown on the safe side, but could be more like 5-6 months old. Their beak is like our fingernails, they never stop growing. You're looking for the hen's growth (5-12 months) and not beak growth. Wow. Marvalo I was from my first batch of chicks too!

alright! ah that’s smart, i didn’t think about that with the cat nail clippers. i will use human instead, better safe than sorry! aww

 

[cnielsen]

There is really nothing you can do to prevent crossed beaks. I had one. I did have to trim her beak once in awhile. She couldn't eat pellets but did ok with crumbles. I had her for 3 years until one day when I was distracted a fox sneaked in and took her in the middle of the day. I did catch the fox and eliminated it. Gladys was very special.
View attachment 2570641
These are what I used to trim her beak.

i’m so sorry that happened to her. she was a very pretty chicken. thank you for the pics!

 

[cmom]

The pet nail clippers worked great. After I clipped the tips of her beak I then used an emery board to smooth it out. I would wrap her up in a towel like I do when I'm getting birds ready to take to a show. Much easier to do that way.

 

[cnielsen]

The pet nail clippers worked great. After I clipped the tips of her beak I then used an emery board to smooth it out. I would wrap her up in a towel like I do when I'm getting birds ready to take to a show. Much easier to do that way.
View attachment 2571642View attachment 2571643

she looks so cute all wrapped up like that! that will definitely help make it easier as she gets big, thank you!

 

[katelwil]

I know this post is old but wanted to share my experience as well in case it could be helpful for someone

I had a silkie that I got at about 4 to 5 weeks old? She had cross beak, though it was a mild case.

Well, I ended up just taking a look at her beak, I would correct it and it would go straight back to how it was. I finally decided to trim it with my nail clippers. It may have just been luck, or just wasn't a bad case, but she has not had any issues since! I suppose she keeps it ground herself now.

If anyone ever chooses to do the same I would exercise caution and do your research as to not hurt the bird or trim too much. I only trimmed a very small few pieces.

I hope you and yours are both doing well, would love an update!

 

[Dragonfly Farm]

what a charmer! yeah, i am preparing myself for it. just hoping it doesn’t go too bad.

Hi-be careful trimming the beak with clippers. Sometimes the beak can split which is a whole’nother problem! A drummel (?) has been recommended to me by a couple of vets. Also, if you clip and get too close to the nerve, it will not only hurt like crazy, it will bleed like crazy. Check out my Beakie. She’s a year plus now so I’ve learned some coping strategies along the way and she’s thriving.. Good luck!

 

[cnielsen]

Here is Princess now! I did some psychical therapy on her beak every day for a while, and it never got much worse. She’s doing great! Thanks for the help everyone.

 

[Faithjo]

Well this is what I did with a crossbeak EE (Marvalo I, not Marvalo II) that I had a few years back. I had braces at the time and I was told that Marvalo's beak was going to keep growing because the top and bottom doesn't line up. When the top and bottom is lined up, the bird will naturally keep their own beak down, but Marvalo wasn't going to be able to do that. So her beak was going to have to be trimmed, and I knew nothing about that at the time. So, everyday I went out there, grabbed Marvalo and pushed her beak opposite ways, so she could grind down her own beak. By the time I stopped doing that everyday, you could barely tell that she even had crossbeak. Now this worked for Marvalo, but I don't know if you'd want to try it or not. I suggest doing something like braces for your chick, but as she grows, you'll have to keep up with her.

If you don't want to try constantly relining her beak up until she stops growing, you can just trim her beak. I have these white finger nail clippers that I use that I think it's brand is First Aid. I use those to trim my bantams beaks all the time. I hold their head in between my fingers (which they fight as the day is long) to try to keep their head still. Then I gently and neatly would trip the kinda clear to white part of the beak down to size. This is all around the tip and sides. Because my bantams wasn't crossbeak, I didn't really have to trim the bottom part too often, but when I did, I had a finger in their mouth making certain that their tongue wasn't coming near.

Now here's another thing. I got an Isa Brown pullet (Lauren) who had crossbeak. She had been permanent debeaked. Being permanent, both top and bottom was debeaked so there was no more growth. I wouldn't ever want to debeak a chicken, but maybe in your chick's case, you would want to do that for less maintenance.

Something to look out for: In serious case of crossbeak, the extra growth will curl inwards. This can make it extremely hard to trim! Keep a close eye out for that and try to avoid that happening. Another way a chicken keeps their beak down is by wiping both sides on the ground. With crossbeak, they can't do this evenly, so there the problem of curling inwards. It curls inwards first on the sides, and in some cases the tip. If trimming, make certain that you trim both tip and sides. If debeaking, keep an eye on the sides. Permanent debeaking stops tip growth, but not side growth.

~Lacy Duckwing

If I start holding my chicks beak in alignment for a time everyday do you think I could possibly stop it from getting worse? It’s not severe right now and she is only about a week or a little bit over a week old. I’m kinda new to raising chicks from such a young age and I’ve been doing research hoping to help her. I’m praying she will be ok and not end up severe

 

[Dragonfly Farm]

Have you looked for my Beakie on here? Her bottom beak is at 90 degrees to the top. Twice a year I take her to have her beak trimmed-doing it yourself can cause the beak to split. I make smoothies for Beakie-layer crumbles, raisins, meal worms which I whirl in the Cuisinart then while still spinning, I add hot water till it is a good consistency. I used to just put veggies and fruit and yogurt in but some days she wouldn’t touch it so I landed on a menu she loves. She’s quite drooly so she has a warm shower a few times a week