Cross beak Easter egger update with a few pics

[jtbrown]

I went to take care of two week olds tonight and noticed one has developed horrible cross beak. I know it wasn't there before. She is same size as others, I can't believe I missed this. Is it possible it just happened? I have picked these girls up multiple times daily, I cannot believe I missed this. I admit i was looking for pasty butt instead of cross beak, but geesh, think i would have noticed it. Only 25 in my brooder. If it appears suddenly is it worse? I have done some looking at other posts, but would like some other input. I will cull her (sounds like I mean it, oh my gosh, I don't want to do it) if I have to, and I will make it quick, but any input?

I edited to add these pics.

She is a really beautiful chick, here is a pic of her wings, much brighter than many of the other EE in the group of 25

 

[math ace]

Quote:
Unless you are looking for it . . .. it is hard to see it when they are tiny. As they grow, so does the beak and then you will see it. It will continue to get worse as the break grows.

We have an Olive Egger with a beak issue. Not exactly cross beak BUT it is deformed. We used a metal file ( on the fine side) and filed the beak until it was better for her to eat with. She has been gaining weight and doing fine. . . She is now 4 months old and we are seeing that her beak has grown again and we are going to have to file it a little bit more.

You don't want to breed her, but you may not have to cull her either. If it looks like shortening the beak with a metal file would help, the I would try it. It did not seem painful to our little girl. She did not squirm and complain too much. Dh and I did it together - - -one held the bird and the other operated the file.

 

[ACraZyLittLeChiCkenGirl]

my chicken split her beak one time which caused it to fork our. i took a drimmel and filled it flat until i just reached the quick. you can see it so watch for it. they can eat when its flat. thats all I know

 

[jtbrown]

Thanks for the replies, poor little thing seems to be so sweet. We will be trying the filing, my 5 year old noticed it too yesterday, which means I am going to have a hard time even among the 25 of them explaining how she disappeared if I cull her. So, I will file her beak and get a picture soon. She has beautiful markings, a really pretty one. Thanks again.

 

[jtbrown]

One more question, do you file the tip of the upper beak, or the bottom beak?

 

[ReikiStar]

We have a 10 week old EE cockerel (came from the pullet bin!) who turned out cross-beaked. We have to file both his top and bottom beak. All depends on if they are able to wear one or both down. He's a better rooster than his normal beaked brood mate. He's actually one of the coolest chickens we have. Very friendly, doesn't miss a thing, full of personality, he just has that funky beak.

We've been told cross-beaks can live normal lives, it all depends on if they can continue to feed themselves. Sadly, since the cross-beak is a skull deformity, sometimes as they mature the deformity is more than they can manage. So keep an eye on the beak, file it sooner, rather than later (letting it get too long is the biggest challenge).

Have some QuickStop powder or corn starch handy just in case you file to much and hit the quick (just like in a dog or parrot's nail -- blood rich growth area). Use the powder to stop any bleeding.

 

[math ace]

Quote:
We had to file top and bottom on our chick too.

 

[jtbrown]

Just figured out our dear cross beak is probably a roo, he is a very big bird, comb is getting red - almost 6 weeks old. He is a pig, eat food and makes a real mess of it, did trim his beak, unsure if it helped. Didn't intend to keep EE roo, so we'll see his personality to see if he stays or goes. Thanks for all the input, this guy's intent on staying around with the way he eats.