I noticed today that my one week old bantam Americana chick's top beak was not aligned with bottom is there anything I can do to help? also why did this happen? Well, my poor little Edwina died this morning, last night she could barley open her eyes and I was feeding her a mash of yogurt crumbles and warm water through a pipette. She just couldn't eat her beak was so bad I should have hand fed her more, I feel like it is my fault I wanted to thank everybody for their help Alicia
This is what I researched to help with your question. Hope this helps............................. Depending on how out of line the beak is. This is usually a birth defect. Some people cull the cross beak as soon as they see them. With regard to this particular bird, it depends on how out of line the beak is. If it's really bad, then it might hinder it's feeding and stop it from thriving. This will certainly be the case if you feed them grain or pellets. As mentioned this is what I found as a help to you. With that said...the decision is up to you.
I also found a post here on BYC................................ Go to Emercencies/Disease/Injuries & Cure look for the post titled...... 4 day old with scissored beak Hope this helps also.
ChickCrew: Thanks for your help! I ordered Penetran creme and cell salts, both these things are supposed to help relax the muscles in her face which I guess is the problem. I will post a pic tomorrow so check back. If anyone knows anything else let me know!
Let us know how it turns out. I have a little 2 week old cross beak, she is still doing well. I am especially interested in your results with the Penetran.
Best of luck. From what I know, it's usually a developmental skull deformity where the skull plates do not grow at the right rate or fuse wrong, thus throwing the beak out of line. With TLC, they can still live just fine. Deep dishes and deep water are a good thing to have for them.