Crooked beak in 8-9 week old Easter Egger

[flockmomma]

I just got back from being out of town for a little over a week, and I noticed one of my Easter Egger pullets, the one whose color I really like the most, seems to have developed a crooked beak. Her bottom half sticks out to the side from under the top half. She appears to be eating and drinking just fine, but I know she was not like this when I left. Is this something that should concern me? Is there anything I should do for/to her? She didn't mind me messing with it earlier, so it didn't appear to be painful.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I have had a couple of hens with this problem. One did fine and was able to eat and the other eventually died because she couldn't eat enough.

So if she can eat OK then they make it.

 

[flockmomma]

I figured it would help to include some pictures to show how skewed her beak is. I would have noticed this before, as our chicken coop/barn is not complete yet, so I have to take this bunch from their pen in the garage to their outdoor run each day. This is the first time I have noted a skewed beak on her. Of course, in the week I was gone, they grew so freaking much (I was gone closer to ten days). Of the Easter Egger hens, she is my favorite in color (have no idea what to call the color, but she is cute, and started out as a dark reddish brown chick).

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

She is very pretty!

Yes the beak has the potential to get worse with time.

 

[PeachygirlGA]

I also have an easter egger that has the same thing. Started noticing it when she was a few weeks old. It has progressively gotten worse but she seems to be eating fine. Mine is 7 weeks old.

 

[realsis]

hi I also have a bird with a cross beak. with a little help from you she can lead a perfectly normal life. two things I do that really help my bird. one I trim the beak upper and when needed and very carefully the lower. this really helps keep the condition from getting worse and it must be done at least every month. if its not done the beak continues to over grow and gets worse. its very important to keep it trimmed! I use large human nail clippers to do mine with. second feed her separately and feed her mash. you can make the mash out of regular feed just wet it and mash it up. they love it and this way she will keep her weight up. I learned this the hard way.mine was on seed and even though she was eating she was not able to keep her weight up.by feeding the mash they eat more this way.much easier. hope this helps. these tips really work well. best wishes

 

[happylittlehens]

I also have a crossbeak EE! Just love her, she is the sweetest thing. I agree with realsis. Feed her separate from the others and keep the beak trimmed and filed. I put some mash in a deep dessert dish and give it to her. She goes to town on it. She also still eats grass blades and weeds too. Just watch her and make sure she is getting food and water. I also check my EE's crop a few times a day to see if it's full. She does very well on her own most of the time.

 

[flockmomma]

are there good tutorials/tips to know how to trim beaks? I've never had a problematic beak before (had banty/game cock crosses), butI am not afraid to do this kind of stuff. Heck, I used to have a Dremel for one of my old horse's hooves, to make it easier to work on her feet.

 

[happylittlehens]

I haven't found any good tutorials/videos yet. Most of the advice I have gotten is to use either a course fingernail file or pedi-paws (electric dog nail file). And just file/clip it as you would dog nails. The beak has a "quick" that will bleed if cut, just like dog nails. And to file it a little bit at a time, but often to try to make it as even as possible with the other half of the beak. Hope this helps a little. I'm brand new to caring for a crossbeak too, so I am still learning also.