I don;t know much about x beaks as I have never had to deal with it before. Dh came home with three RIR/PR about 10 days ago
I call them Agnes, Florance and Dorothry. Dorothy was half starved and her feathers were comming out in handfalls when I lifted her. It seemed more to do with her state of malnutrition than a natural molt and you could feel every bone!!!! Its taken a while but she is now fighting for food and is begining to put on a bit of weight. The feathers are not sheading quite so much and her comb is starting to look a bit more pink than grey/white.
Agnes and Florance were a bit better off in that although they were thin they were not emaciated. They now have redish combs and one has even laid for me. They all seem happier and are integrating well into my flock - so much so that when I lifted Florance to look at her Mable turned on me and started peeking my coat!!!!!
I do have an issue though as Agnes and Florance are X beaks. Agnes isn't too bad and she is managing fine. Its only when you look at her close you can see the beak doesn't fully meet so its not too much of a disablitiy for her.
Florance is worse - I think someone has tried to correct the x beak as the top is a good bit shorter than the bottom so she has a bit of a scoop thing going on. She has a rough edge on the bottom that seem to turn up. Although she is getting on ok and seems to be eating fine should I try to "tidy this up a bit" or just leave it.
How do you go about doing that without hurting her????? How would I trim the bottom back a little and what tool is best to do that with??????? Longterm is it better for her to have it tidied up???? The top looks like its just been cut off like some folk do to a bird that pecks too much but Florance is docile and a good girl!!!! It is obvious that it has grown x over the bottom. Anyhow if anyone has any ideas would be good - I don't think I will be able to get a photo to post though as my camera just doesn;t take pics fast enough and the girls keep on moving!!!!!
Oesdog
I call them Agnes, Florance and Dorothry. Dorothy was half starved and her feathers were comming out in handfalls when I lifted her. It seemed more to do with her state of malnutrition than a natural molt and you could feel every bone!!!! Its taken a while but she is now fighting for food and is begining to put on a bit of weight. The feathers are not sheading quite so much and her comb is starting to look a bit more pink than grey/white.
Agnes and Florance were a bit better off in that although they were thin they were not emaciated. They now have redish combs and one has even laid for me. They all seem happier and are integrating well into my flock - so much so that when I lifted Florance to look at her Mable turned on me and started peeking my coat!!!!!
I do have an issue though as Agnes and Florance are X beaks. Agnes isn't too bad and she is managing fine. Its only when you look at her close you can see the beak doesn't fully meet so its not too much of a disablitiy for her.
Florance is worse - I think someone has tried to correct the x beak as the top is a good bit shorter than the bottom so she has a bit of a scoop thing going on. She has a rough edge on the bottom that seem to turn up. Although she is getting on ok and seems to be eating fine should I try to "tidy this up a bit" or just leave it.
How do you go about doing that without hurting her????? How would I trim the bottom back a little and what tool is best to do that with??????? Longterm is it better for her to have it tidied up???? The top looks like its just been cut off like some folk do to a bird that pecks too much but Florance is docile and a good girl!!!! It is obvious that it has grown x over the bottom. Anyhow if anyone has any ideas would be good - I don't think I will be able to get a photo to post though as my camera just doesn;t take pics fast enough and the girls keep on moving!!!!!
Oesdog

Last edited: