Crossed beak chicken stop going to coop at night

[pwic8261]

Hi everyone,

We have a crossed beak chicken about 9 months old and was eating and acting fine, but smaller than others and haven't start laying eggs. She was fine until a week ago, i noticed that she was still eating when it is dark when all the other chickens went inside the coop to sleep but she was still out eating. Couple of days later, she seems really kind of sick, sitting down during the day and closing eyes. So we brought her inside the house, we thought maybe she's too cold, we are in RI and it gets to 32F at night and around 35F to 40F during the day. So anyway, she got better after we feed her some water, so then we started giving her feed, but realize her crossed beak was really stoping her from eating. So we trim her beak a bit shorter after doing some research on how to do it.

After that, we put her feed mix with water so it seems easier for her to eat. But tonight i found her eating at night again, and when i put her into the coop and she just tried to sleep/snuggle with other chickens.... I really don't know what's wrong with her and thought maybe you know if she's sick or just cold?


Thank you

 

[nuthatched]

She might not be getting enough to eat with her special needs, does her keel bone feel pronounced?

 

[Iluveggers]

@JustBabyMargo has some cross beak special needs chickens. Hopefully she can help you!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hi everyone,

We have a crossed beak chicken about 9 months old and was eating and acting fine, but smaller than others and haven't start laying eggs. She was fine until a week ago, i noticed that she was still eating when it is dark when all the other chickens went inside the coop to sleep but she was still out eating. Couple of days later, she seems really kind of sick, sitting down during the day and closing eyes. So we brought her inside the house, we thought maybe she's too cold, we are in RI and it gets to 32F at night and around 35F to 40F during the day. So anyway, she got better after we feed her some water, so then we started giving her feed, but realize her crossed beak was really stoping her from eating. So we trim her beak a bit shorter after doing some research on how to do it.

After that, we put her feed mix with water so it seems easier for her to eat. But tonight i found her eating at night again, and when i put her into the coop and she just tried to sleep/snuggle with other chickens.... I really don't know what's wrong with her and thought maybe you know if she's sick or just cold?


Thank you

If she's eating at night after the others have gone in, likely she's being kept from food water.
Observe behaviors during the day to see if she's being bullied.
You may need to Torpedo feed her several times a day to help ensure she's getting enough to eat.
Do check her over for lice/mites and see that her crop is emptying overnight.

Here's how to torpedo feed https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...eeding-what-is-it-and-when-to-use-it.1532744/