Chick with cross beak *pics*

[cocosandy]

McMurray has some huge problems this year...the shipping is just the tip of the iceberg as far as Im concerned.
the only people that Im hearing defend them about the shipping have gotten BIG orders of chicks and lost only a few.
I think that if youre getting over 100 chicks, they keep eachother warmer over 3 days+ than just 25....
Just my opininon, but I know that my houdans were hatched on a thursday, processed on a friday, sent on a sat and arrived here dead on a Tuesday.
The two that survived have both died; one with a cross beak couldnt eat enough, and the other made it to just the other day and suddenly dropped dead.
Im gonna hatch some houdans now...I dont want to deal with McMyrray until they start express shipping during the week, overnight, and until they refresh their lines.
I'd love to see their operation and the conditions.
Y'know, they were featured on the Martha Stewart show that I went down to the taping of in NYC (with my houdan that I hatched myself and a houdan chick from them that later died of unknown causes) and the bit that they did with delivering Martha her chicks involved a box of 100+ chicks that the owner hand carried on the plane to her...then they went on to show a little film of how they process birds and claimed that ALL of their hatching is on Friday and that all orders arrive by monday AM, which is just not true....but I guess that it wouldnt do to send Martha dead chicks;-)
I heard around here that she ran over a chicken at her place and that she also can snap their necks by herself....but then, she has a bad reputation here as being a real taskmaster and grump, so maybe those are just exaggerated stories from the locals who have worked for her;-)
Anyway, I tell the members of my group not to order from McMurray for this year at least, until we know more...and I suggest MyPet Chicken and eggbid...and of course, local member AHappyChick who has the best birds around here and on the web, IMO! Im also suggesting that all chicks be vaccinated for mareks whether youre hatching, ordering or buying on eggbid. There is so much mareks around and at this point, all birds should be day one vaccinated!
We'll see what happens next year w/ mcmurray....its too bad because they have some breeds that I like. Id like to refer my members to them, but I wont.

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

Quote:
I went ahead a separated my crossed beak chick and my twisted neck chick into their own brooder box. After reading this post I got some baby parrot formula and some cell salts. I've been feeding my two girls with a syringe 2x a day, at least until I see that they are eating plenty on their own. They seemed to be getting a little thin. I put their food in a deep parrot crock and that seems to help the crooked beak bird to pick up food. It also forces the twisted neck bird to stretch her neck out more to get her food. She can do it but I think it's more comfortable for her to keep her neck down. I just ordered some Penetran (seen on another thread) and am going to try that on both birds as well.

When all is said and done at least I'll be able to say that I did all that I could for them. Should I put a couple of more chicks in with them so that when I return them to the flock they aren't the only ones and will hopefully not get picked on as much? That's my biggest concern at the moment...well, that and having too many roos!

 

[RThomas]

Seems like a lot of cross beak issues coming from both Ideal and McMurray. I have 14 chicks from ideal. One of the EEs has a cross beak. Also, the top beak is sharply hooked at the end, which I think made it difficult for the beaks to line up properly. So, i trimmed the hook from the top beak. It is still slightly crossed, but appears to be better than it did. The chicks are just over 6 weeks old.

I wonder if these two large hatcheries are breeding deformities into their chicks by not rotating out breeding stock? Something to consider in future orders.

 

[SQbrahmas]

Crossed beaks are gentetic faults. Completely hereditary.

 

[hobbychick]

I have a six week old EE that I got at rural king in Indiana when they had their chick days and it has a very bad cross beak. I have been trying to figure out what to do with it I am going to try to trim the top part and see if it will line up.

It seems that alot of the chickes with this problem are EE. Makes you wonder were the hatcheries get their eggs!!

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

Hey, your signature could almost be mine!!

I got my crossed beak bird at around 3 weeks old. It was just slightly crossed so I thought "no biggie". A week later, and almost over night, it got much worse. Now the bird is 5 weeks and it is drastically crossed. I tried putting cell salts in the water as well as massaging it with Penetran. I also trimmed the top a bit, which didn't really help. I finally put her and another deformed chick I have in with the others when I moved them into a bigger pen. Unless I'm prepared to hand feed this bird for the rest of it's life, and I'm not, I need to know if it can survive on it's own. I did put a deep crock in the pen and make sure it is filled to the brim 2x a day. I top it off with baby parrot formula (powder). The crossed beak chick always feeds immediately from it. I add the parrot formula just to give her a little extra boost. I have a small gram scale and have started weighing it to make sure it's continuing to put on weight. So far so good. I don't want it to slowly starve so I'm trying to keep a close eye on her and the other one. I'll try to get some pictures tomorrow so you can see how drastically the beak changed in just two weeks. I know that some birds can survive but I won't be surprised if at some point in the future this one stops thriving. She may not be able to eat enough to keep up with her growth rate. My mom had one that she was hand feeding three times a day and at that she only lived a few years.

If she doesn't make it at least I feel that I've done what I am able to, short of moving her into the house and dedicating the next ? years to being home to feed her 3x a day...my mom I'm not

 

[Shannon's Chix]

Just wanted to share Charlie's story. He/she is an ee I hatched from a friend's eggs. He had crossbeak, only one eye and really no comb so I have no idea if he's a boy or girl. I was lucky, just kept an eye on him and he was able to eat and drink fine. He's a bit smaller than his hatchmates but does just fine...even freeranges with them! He's about 10 weeks old or so...

 

[tstoikes]

I have gotten my crossed beak silkies from Orscheln's Farm Store. They got their birds from Estes Hatchery in Springfield Missouri. This may be the local stores that get them from there or they all might.
As for the Penetran. You can not have it shipped to you. Something to do with the postal regulations. But if no one carries it locally, go to your local pharmacy or Wal mart and have them order it. I placed my order Saturday and had it Monday.

 

[tstoikes]

Hey I talked to a local vet the other day when I was looking to see if any of the vets in the area had Penetran. He basically said that he had never heard of crossed beak and they did not cover it in school. He does farm animals as well as pets but doesn't specialize in birds. But it has got me to wondering if these birds all trace back to a common source? Any ideas?

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

I had to order Penetran direct from the manufacturer but it didn't help my birds. I culled them both today. I was told by the feed store that when she called McMurray to tell them that she had received a high percentage of SLW and EE's with beak and foot deformities they told her that she was the first to contact them about the problem. This surprised me because of all of the posts I've seen. I've already left a post on the subject but I'll reiterate it here:

If anyone has gotten a bird with any kind of deformity that has come either directly or indirectly from McMurray please call and tell them. They want to know, according to the store owner where I got my birds. If they have a problem they want to fix it. The store owner has been doing business with them for many years and this is the first time she's run into this.