Crooked Chicken Beak

[Pollito Pelon]

Hello fellow BYC friends,

I have a young chicken that has a crooked beak can anyone recommend how I can help this little One?

 

[MommyGirl]

she’s a cross beak! Is she able to eat? I have a cross beak that’s almost 4 and has always been able to eat on her own and has needed no assistance from me

 

[MommyGirl]

Depending on how bad it gets some people file their beaks into better shape or if they can’t get enough food then they have to be tube fed

 

[Eggcessive]

Cross beak is a common deformity that can get worse with age. Feeding crumbles or moistened chicken feed from a taller bowl cannhelp them get enough to eat. Beaks can be slightly trimmed with dog nail clippers, and a file can be used as well. Here is some reading about this:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/scissor-beak-aka-crossed-beak-what-it/

 

[AinaWGSD]

Cross beak. It can be caused by injury or it could be genetic This may stay the same or get worse as she ages. If it gets any worse it will affect how well she can eat (honestly it could already be affecting her ability to eat).

If you decide to keep her it will require trimming (I used a dremmel to file the beak down so she could get food into her mouth). Deep dishes would also be beneficial so she can scoop the food rather than struggle with picking it up. I would recommend getting a scale and doing weekly weight checks to ensure she is gaining weight (or maintaining it as an adult). If she's not gaining like the other chicks or she starts losing weight you'll need to reassess and either tube feed her or euthanize her.

 

[Pollito Pelon]

Thank you for the replies, I have trim a small section of the bottom beak so the bird can close a bit more.

I check the bird's crop on a daily basis and its always full however, i feel that it suffers a bit with the cold from the feathers. I assumed that her beak was becoming crooked during the winter i noticed a bit of extra flesh around the bird's cheek but not sure. I had not seen the beak crooked previously.

 

[Eggcessive]

If you can get a picture of the flesh on the beak and inside the beak, just to see if there is something inside her beak, such as canker. Look for anything yellow.

 

[MommyGirl]

The pictures you posted does look like something in her beak on the left side unless that was just food or dirt

 

[Eggcessive]

Make sure the dark area on her right beak is not food, but tissue. Here are some pictures of canker, a protozoan infection inside the beak.
https://bitchinchickens.com/2020/07/06/avian-trichomonosis-canker/

 

[Pollito Pelon]

Thank you for your reply, there was an infected bird that was recently laid down.

This chicken has green/blue earlobes which i assume its a possible infection.