Cross Beak Questions

[bellium]

OF COURSE my favorite week old pullet seems to be developing cross beak. Any tips or tricks from those knowledgeable about this ailment? Is there a way to minimize the cross, does it get worse over time? She’s holding her own with her 4 “sisters” right now but is a tiny bit smaller than the others. She’s such a sweet little thing, if I can keep her healthy and happy, I’d like to.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

That much that young, it's going to be bad. Some people make soup and feed them seperatwly, but most still end up starving

 

[FuzzyCritters]

I have a D'uccle chick with cross beak... watching thread in case someone has some suggestions.

Right now, I've been putting pressure on her beak to try to align it (suggestion from this article). If that doesn't work, I'll give her "chick braces" when she's older. Someone on BYC came up with this idea, but never got to finish treating her chicken. It's worth a try if nothing else works. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chick-braces-for-cross-beak.1104343/

 

[Mamatomany123]

I have a D'uccle chick with cross beak... watching thread in case someone has some suggestions.

Right now, I've been putting pressure on her beak to try to align it (suggestion from this article). If that doesn't work, I'll give her "chick braces" when she's older. Someone on BYC came up with this idea, but never got to finish treating her chicken. It's worth a try if nothing else works. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chick-braces-for-cross-beak.1104343/

This makes sense in a way but I think if you look at it like human when they get braces. If they dont wesr the retainer afterwards then the teeth eventually shift again. Once you take the bracket off of the beak the beak will eventually shift back to being crossed.

 

[FuzzyCritters]

This makes sense in a way but I think if you look at it like human when they get braces. If they dont wesr the retainer afterwards then the teeth eventually shift again. Once you take the bracket off of the beak the beak will eventually shift back to being crossed.

That's a good point, I didn't think of that.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Provide wet or fermented feed in a fairly deep dish to make it easier for her to eat, and as she grows up, plan on doing maintenance to try and keep the beak in as "normal" of a shape as possible. Depending on how bad it gets, she may struggle to eat, drink (my crossbeak had a hard time learning to use horizontal nipples) and groom.

 

[foxgirl_0005]

I am looking for advice. I incubated some eggs and one of them (Wonder) was born with a cross beak, one eye missing and only partially able to open his other eye. He is now three weeks old (current pictures). He has got his wing feathers and just starting to get his tail feathers. He is much smaller than his siblings. I have been feeding him frequently via syringe. I have tried variations of bread, moist crumb, crumb and egg yolk, moist crumb and Vegemite via a syringe (the stuff above his eye is food). Is he likely to grow and thrive ? Or is it likely that something else is going on for him?

 

[PippinTheChicken]

I am looking for advice. I incubated some eggs and one of them (Wonder) was born with a cross beak, one eye missing and only partially able to open his other eye. He is now three weeks old (current pictures). He has got his wing feathers and just starting to get his tail feathers. He is much smaller than his siblings. I have been feeding him frequently via syringe. I have tried variations of bread, moist crumb, crumb and egg yolk, moist crumb and Vegemite via a syringe (the stuff above his eye is food). Is he likely to grow and thrive ? Or is it likely that something else is going on for him?
View attachment 2697794View attachment 2697795

Might want to start a new thread about this.
I hope she turns out okay

 

[rosemarythyme]

I am looking for advice. I incubated some eggs and one of them (Wonder) was born with a cross beak, one eye missing and only partially able to open his other eye. He is now three weeks old (current pictures). He has got his wing feathers and just starting to get his tail feathers. He is much smaller than his siblings. I have been feeding him frequently via syringe. I have tried variations of bread, moist crumb, crumb and egg yolk, moist crumb and Vegemite via a syringe (the stuff above his eye is food). Is he likely to grow and thrive ? Or is it likely that something else is going on for him?

I have to be frank, this bird isn't likely to make it. IF you are willing to tube feed it for the rest of its life, you can probably nurse it along for a while, but I think the kindest thing to do is cull it. In addition to the severe crossbeak (which will likely worsen) and partial blindness it likely has brain damage due to the misshapen skull.

 

[bellium]

I ended up culling my crossbeak chick at about 4 weeks old. Her beak got worse and worse each day, and even with extra care she was clearly falling behind in development compared with her sisters. She couldn't preen and remove the sheaths from her feathers that were growing in, and with 13 other hens, plus other pets, a family, a job, and a house, I knew I want going to be able to devote the attention to her that I needed to. It was a difficult decision to make but I’m not sorry that I made it before she started starving.