Crooked beak.???

[StacOHTX]

I have a 5 week silkie that bottom beak is longer than top and she now can't bite down normal. Is this normal? Seemed to happen overnight. What do I do?
Thank you!

 

[Silkies for life]

Is it possible for you to post a pic? If it is just a bit longer on the bottom I would suggest dremeling...

 

[rosemarythyme]

Photos would help. She may need routine beak maintenance and/or wet feed/deep dishes to help her eat, but birds with beak deformities can still do pretty well in many cases.

 

[StacOHTX]

Is it possible for you to post a pic? If it is just a bit longer on the bottom I would suggest dremeling...

I tried trimming and it still looks just as bad. Unfortunately her bottom beak started to bleed a little. The top did not. What do I do with this poor baby?

 

[StacOHTX]

Photos would help. She may need routine beak maintenance and/or wet feed/deep dishes to help her eat, but birds with beak deformities can still do pretty well in many cases.

It did not start off like this. Did she break it?

 

[rosemarythyme]

It did not start off like this. Did she break it?

It's crossbeak/scissor beak, the beak isn't aligned properly due to some deformity in the head. Usually gets worse as they get older, but you can try to help manage it by providing easy to eat food like wet feed in deeper dishes.

When you trim it, the goal isn't to fix it (you really can't) but to make it so the bird can still use its beak to some degree so it can still eat and drink. You only want to trim off around the margins of the beak - they're like cat/dog toenails, with blood vessels and nerves towards the middle that you want to avoid.

 

[mviera101]

I had a lovely little hen with the same issue, my husband made her a small deep box to eat out of . I would supplement yogurt and oatmeal ,She did fine.

 

[StacOHTX]

It's crossbeak/scissor beak, the beak isn't aligned properly due to some deformity in the head. Usually gets worse as they get older, but you can try to help manage it by providing easy to eat food like wet feed in deeper dishes.

When you trim it, the goal isn't to fix it (you really can't) but to make it so the bird can still use its beak to some degree so it can still eat and drink. You only want to trim off around the margins of the beak - they're like cat/dog toenails, with blood vessels and nerves towards the middle that you want to avoid.

Thank you! Can she still have a long and happy life?

 

[21hens-incharge]

Some do and some don't have long healthy lives.
I myself have a 4+ year old orpington with crossbeak. I feed wet mash every day and have deep dishes for dry food as well. Crumbles are easier for her than pellets. I see her scoop crumbles as well as eat the wet mash.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Thank you! Can she still have a long and happy life?

Some do and some don't have long healthy lives.
I myself have a 4+ year old orpington with crossbeak. I feed wet mash every day and have deep dishes for dry food as well.

I currently have a 2 yr old bird with mild crossbeak, and I feed fermented feed in the morning, which she can eat easily. My dry feed is pellets and mine gets by okay with those (as noted, it's a mild case). She did have a hard time learning to use the nipple waterer though. I trim/maintain her beak roughly every month or so, using an emery board and a dog nail trimmer to keep any overgrowth in check. She tends to crack and chip her beak around the edge if I don't keep it whittled down.

Despite it being a little harder for her to eat and drink she's one of my most consistent layers!