Chick with scissor beak :(

[PouleChick]

One of my little Araucana's has a scissor beak I didn't notice it the first few days but i think it was about day 4 or 5 and I think it seems to have got slightly worse since then too. I'm watching carefully as there is an identi-sibling so watching to see that it is growing as well (ie eating enough) and at this stage seems to be - they are still exactly the same size.

I know nothing about it and have no idea what / if / when/ how to do anything. What is the story with scissor beak? Is it common? What are your thoughts - can they still live a happy productive life etc?

My thoughts are for the moment - wait and see - if it is a rooster - freezer camp, if it is a hen and has no quality of life issues then she can live as a normal chook and I'll be careful to never breed from her if I ever end up having roosters etc. If there is quality of life issues down the track then freezer camp. Does this seem like a fair plan? I am fine with eating our animals in a respectful way at the right time - I can't get my head around 'culling' a tiny little chick that has a life that then serves no purpose at all!

Any thoughts and advice appreciated!

 

[Little Jerry Seinfeld]

I think that's a reasonable plan. Its horrible when you have to cull a baby, not so bad when it's a mean old rooster who had a good life
In the meantime I would trim or file it to make sure she can eat enough.
We were just talking about a similar thing on another thread and found this info
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ow-to-do-so-why-and-preventions.64400/?page=2
Edit that wasn't the one I thought , it does talks about trimming some...
But , now I can't find that article I was thinking of either, this one below is a thread about scissor beak, has some better info than the first one, sorry I should of checked before I put the message the first time.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/scissor-beak.1011946/#post-15676546

 

[Zinjifrah]

I've done some reading on this recently... she may need her beak trimmed eventually, but it is entirely possible that she could live her life very well with scissor beak. Many chickens do. She may need special accommodations, such as a water dish raised to the height of her back, and food that's been moistened to a soup that's easier for her to pick up and swallow, if she starts having trouble eating.

It is also possible that it will never get bad enough to be a problem. One person mentioned having put a brick in with their chickens to sharpen their beaks on, and that after a while, the scissor beak seemed to have gone away entirely.

Unfortunately, I did have to cull my six-week old Sebright chick with it. Rather than his lower beak being out of alignment, it was his upper beak, which was rapidly twisting around until I think eventually it would have been entirely sideways. When I realized that he was having trouble breathing, I made the choice not to wait until he was suffering more than he already was, even though he was too small to eat. He died yesterday, and his head is being sent off to a bio prof I know who wants to study the deformity. He was still able to eat just fine, with his lower beak normal... but I think the deformity of his upper beak was damaging his sinuses. That's another possibility to be aware of, but to my understanding, just from what I've read, it is not the normal result by any means.

 

[featheredplanets]

It all really depends on how severe the split is. It’s quite common for birds to have a small split beak, the bigger it gets, the harder life is for them.
In my experience, my cockerel had a big split beak, he needed his own deep dishes for food and water. He could only eat watery foods or chick crumble, he always tried and failed to eat seeds or grains I gave the flock. Which makes me think, if your chick is a pullet and the split is severe, you may have to feed her laying crumble when old enough, as she won’t be able to pick oyster shell up. He couldn’t even eat grass. The larger the split is, the less they can preen, Tina lost that ability entirely. Tina needed both the top and bottom beak trimming. I took him to a vet, she did it for free. It’s a simple procedure.
It’s a genetic issue, it can be caused by an accident in the brooder though. The important thing to remember, simply don’t breed from split beaked birds, it causes an unnecessarily hard life on the birds that suffer with it. Goodluck with yours. Tina was full of love.

 

[Guido]

I have an Araucana chick with scissor beak too.
my suspicion was an early issue with the incubator having a fit when my little helpers...umm...helped out and it briefly overheated.
Can also be caused by the chick not getting into the right position to hatch.
I noticed the misalignment when first hatched, but as the chick has grown it seems to have become more pronounced, eating and drinking ok with the others.

Happy little being that it is, named it Goofy, I'm also in the lets see how it goes frame of mind.
Making adaptations for feed and water won't be a major pain, just a thing to keep an eye on for now.

 

[PouleChick]

this one below is a thread about scissor beak, has some better info than the first one,

thanks

It is also possible that it will never get bad enough to be a problem. One person mentioned having put a brick in with their chickens to sharpen their beaks on, and that after a while, the scissor beak seemed to have gone away entirely.

I'm hoping it doesn't get too bad. There is a brick in thier coop with the water sat on it - not sure it would know to use it though!

It’s a genetic issue, it can be caused by an accident in the brooder though. The important thing to remember, simply don’t breed from split beaked birds, it causes an unnecessarily hard life on the birds that suffer with it. Goodluck with yours. Tina was full of love.

What a sweetie! Is she an Araucana too? Definately won't breed from him / her and if I think there is any suffereing I'll step in at that point.

I have an Araucana chick with scissor beak too.

Wonder if they are more susceptible to it?

my suspicion was an early issue with the incubator having a fit when my little helpers...umm...helped out and it briefly overheated.
Can also be caused by the chick not getting into the right position to hatch.

Don't you love 'little helpers'!! Who knows what happened here - mine are broody hen hatched - so could have been positional.

 

[PouleChick]

I had a good close look this morning and it is pretty bad - I'd guess about the same angles as 'Tina' above - which I'm thinking is a worry this young (only 12 days). S/he is still the same size as the identi-sibling so so far so good but I'll be keeping my eyes closely on this baby.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Unfortunately it'll probably get worse as the chicks grows - at 12 days old the chick has a lot of growing left to do so as you can imagine a small misalignment can become a major one. You'll really need to carefully watch it to make sure it's getting enough to eat and drink. If it really starts struggling and can't gain weight, the kindest thing to do it put it down instead of letting it starve to death.

 

[PouleChick]

Unfortunately it'll probably get worse as the chicks grows - at 12 days old the chick has a lot of growing left to do so as you can imagine a small misalignment can become a major one. You'll really need to carefully watch it to make sure it's getting enough to eat and drink. If it really starts struggling and can't gain weight, the kindest thing to do it put it down instead of letting it starve to death.

That is my worry, I was watching this morning and he does seem to be getting on OK but it isn't pretty the poor little thing. Still no change in size appearance compared to the other. I'll get a pic of him later.

 

[PouleChick]

OK I think that it is worse again today - I'm not sure if I'm imagining it but I think it looks like his little head is going a bit skewed. I watched him eating and he seems to spend much more time at the feeder than the others. I have taken as many pics as I could manage from different angles (I've cropped the images so they aren't super clear). What do you guys think?

This is the shot that I think you can see that his head seems to be going a funny shape.