Crooked Beak

[DickGJ]

I understand your feelings. Best course of action then is to help it as best you can and let nature take its course for the good or the bad. Some chickens can prove to be pretty amazing at how they can adapt to physical challenges.

 

[Autumnchicken]

Its interesting the thread I was reading earlier says save the chick! And theres a thread showing off your disabled chickens and a bunch of them have crossed beaks.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=378645&p=2

 

[bantam<3er]

My quail antwerp belgain chick has a crooked beak too. I havent taken him to the vet yet im going soon. Here's a picture of him.

 

[bantam<3er]

 

[Miyashi]

bantam<3er :

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/88405_251.jpg

Let me know how your vet visit goes! I would really like to hear how your bird is doing.
I gave my little girl a bath yesterday to get all the caked on food off of her. We noticed she has a lot of excess skin...She's just not growing...
I have to make her wet food...or at least I think I do, she may be able to eat solid food.​

 

[bantam<3er]

My little guy doesn't like the wet food. I have no idea why, I thought i might be easier for him to eat. I put it in the cage and he still ate the dry food and didn't even touch the wet food.

 

[Miyashi]

Weird. I can't get mine to eat the dry food. It's in a deep enough dish for her to get plenty...I keep thinking I should stop making her the wet food to see if that will make her hungry enough to eat the dry stuff...
I don't know. Poor thing.
Is yours growing well? My poor Penelopeep! is not...

 

[tailfluff]

I just wanted to share really quick - it all depends on how much time and love you wish to put into your birds. I had a baby golden laced polish with scissor beak (her name was Purdy) who lived until she was 7 years old (killed by a dog

). I have no idea how long she would have lived.
Here's my secret. If you're really interested in investing your time into your bird, wet its food. I used to feed mine mash balls (layer crumble with water or yogurt rolled up by hand), bread, boiled eggs, boiled potatoes, anything really fattening to keep her weight up. By the time she reached adulthood she had figured out how to maneuver her beak just right to pick up her own mash (remember to add grit - I used chick grit for her - and ground up tums or some sort of calcium supplement that is easy to swallow) Not only did she live a completely normal life but she was one of the sweetest birds I had ever had, and believe me I had a lot of sweeties. Your bird doesn't have to be put down, but it would be fair to put it down if it couldn't eat, drink, or participate in normal chicken activities. Purdy's beak didn't bother her a bit, but it sure looked funny.

Make sure it can drink water on its own and you make the call. Don't feel bad either way: It's more cruel to force a bird to suffer if you can't invest time into taking extra special care of it. If you have the time for this bird you will certainly have a best buddy for life. Good luck with your baby.

 

[tailfluff]

Sorry, I forgot to add one more thing: If your bird won't eat the mash try fluffing it with a fork. Purdy did NOT like eating flattened mash. She struggled to get a hold of it. She had no problem with the fluffed mash or mash balls.

 

[Miyashi]

She refuses to eat dry food out of a deep container. She will only eat when her food is the consistency of a stew. I've been keeping a deep dish of water just for her, she likes that. She really needs to put on some weight. She isn't growing like she should and I just keep thinking she'll get bigger and smarter and figure out better ways to eat. I think she could eat the hard food if she would just push herself to do it. Her face wouldn't need so many baths either. Haha
I think that's really awesome, the story of your birdie.
She's just been eating starter mash so far....mixed with water. Occasionally, I put yogurt or V8 juice in it. I should mos def be giving her something with a higher fat content though I suppose.
She is just so cute...she flies out of the box when she hears me, then she hops onto my hand when I put it out for her. She sits and waits patiently while I mix her food. She likes to look at me and talk quietly...I think she thinks I know what she's saying.

Chickens are awesome...they really are.
Thank you for your story. I'll try some of your suggestions!