Cross Beak

[rosemarythyme]

So how do I manage it. Just leave it be and make sure she's eating and drinking? File it a little? Take her to the vet?...

No need for a vet. I just use a coarse emery board and file to remove excess and shape it best I can, to make it easier on them to eat and drink. Just make sure you avoid hitting the quick, similar to a dog or cat's nail.

 

[ssferret]

No experience with Brahmas so I can't ID - but I can see what you mean about the beaks. Probably not a good batch genetically to hatch from, if that was your hope.

Yep, that's what I got them for. New Brahma blood. Now there's no way I'm going to breed them. Oh well. They're still sweethearts. I'll just hope the eggs will be different enough that I can tell them apart.

 

[ssferret]

No need for a vet. I just use a coarse emery board and file to remove excess and shape it best I can, to make it easier on them to eat and drink. Just make sure you avoid hitting the quick, similar to a dog or cat's nail.

Thank you so much. I really appreciate you helping me. Bitty appreciates too even if she doesn't know it.

 

[ssferret]

UPDATE

First I want to thank @rosemarythyme for everything. I want to show you and everyone else how Bitty looks after having her beak clipped. Compare these to my original pics.

One question. I read that cross-beaks or crooked beaks won't be able to eat pellets but must be fed crumbles due to having to scoop food with their lower jaw. Since hers isn't bad and if I can keep her beak filed regularly to keep it looking like this should I still have to give her crumbles?

 

[rosemarythyme]

First I want to thank @rosemarythyme for everything. I want to show you and everyone else how Bitty looks after having her beak clipped. Compare these to my original pics.

One question. I read that cross-beaks or crooked beaks won't be able to eat pellets but must be fed crumbles due to having to scoop food with their lower jaw. Since hers isn't bad and if I can keep her beak filed regularly to keep it looking like this should I still have to give her crumbles?

Good job on the beak - it really doesn't look so bad like that from some of the angles.

Some cross-beaked birds can eat pellets just fine - mine loves them. She gets fermented feed too (which is messy with her, she gets it all over her face). With mild cases there really isn't anything special you need to do other than keeping an eye on the condition of the beak, and correcting overgrowth on occasion.

 

[ssferret]

@rosemarythyme

Just a quick update.

I filed Bitty's beak to the point where you couldn't even tell there was a problem anymore just by looking at it. But the big surprise is that even now, after 2 months, there's not sign that she even had a problem! Even when she opens her mouth her jaw looks normal.

I guess it's possible that her crooked beak was not hereditary but some type of injury. The injury was probably recent and being young her jaw was able to realign itself one her beak was filed. She's also eating well and is no longer the smallest in the flock.

Regardless of the reason, I'm thrilled!

 

[rosemarythyme]

@rosemarythyme

Just a quick update.

I filed Bitty's beak to the point where you couldn't even tell there was a problem anymore just by looking at it. But the big surprise is that even now, after 2 months, there's not sign that she even had a problem! Even when she opens her mouth her jaw looks normal.

I guess it's possible that her crooked beak was not hereditary but some type of injury. The injury was probably recent and being young her jaw was able to realign itself one her beak was filed. She's also eating well and is no longer the smallest in the flock.

Regardless of the reason, I'm thrilled!

She looks great! Obviously keep an eye on it as beak problems can reappear age. Probably not to a problematic extent since it looks good now and it may be hard to catch, but you'd be looking for anything like uneven wear around the margin of the beak, in which case you'd want to file that back to make sure she has good alignment.