Chick's beak is slightly off centered...

[memrymaker]

My Americauna chick has a beak that is centered on top and off a little at the bottom. She is eating and drinking with seemingly no problems. Should I be worried and do I need to get a vet to get it corrected?

 

[ChickenGoesRuff]

When I visited Tennessee on a mission trip, we built a new coop for a family that had a rooster with the same problem. The bottom half jutted out the side of the mouth. Apparently they just made sure he ate and drank regularly when it was little, and filed the bottom beak down with a nail file regularly so it could still peck and pick things up. As long as the chick is eating and drinking fine, It should be okay.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Cross Beak or Scissor Beak is usually a genetic disorder. I don't think a vet would be able to fix it.

If she is having trouble eating/drinking there are a few things that may help.

Provide a deeper dish for food, sometimes wet feed is a little easier to "scoop" then trying to pick up individual crumbles. (Chickens love wet feed, just add a little water to chick starter to make a paste). For the water, placing it higher up on something like a block of wood will again help her "scoop" the water in her beak.

There are several threads/articles here on BYC about raising and keeping chickens with cross/scissor beaks, just search at the top.

Here's one from the Chicken Chick:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/03/scissor-beak-aka-crossed-beak-what-it.html