crossed beak - why? prevention?

[paoniapoultry]

i have a 6 month old wyandotte that has a pretty badly crossed beak. she can still eat, but it is bad.

i just noticed that one of my 2 week old chicks is starting to develop the same problem, the beak is slightly off (top and bottom don't match up). this is how the wyandotte started, and hers continued to develop and continued to get more crossed as she aged.

why does this happen? is there anything to prevent it at the chick stage?

thanks for the help!

 

[jenjscott]

Sometimes you can trim it and it will help, but often it will cross anyway. I don't think there is any prevention for it. They might do well as long as the feed is deep enough that they can continue to eat. I had one that got so crooked it couldn't even eat out of a deep feeder and was loosing weight so I had to cull it.

 

[verycherry]

I was just wondering the same thing. I used to wonder if it might be caused by inbreeding or something, but I had a chick that was a mixed breed that had it. Including that one, I've had a total of 3 chicks with it. The mixed breed ended up passing away. It was completely unrelated to the other two.

The other two are Ameraucanas, but they have different parents. One is ok, at point of lay, and lives with my laying flock and none of her eggs will ever be hatched. The other one is a 2 or 3 week old chick....that one is pretty bad unfortunately. It just kills me that I can't do anything for it. I've also wondered if it has anything to do with incubator temps, spikes and such.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Handfeeding formula, mixed to the consistency of mashed potatoes will allow a cross beaked bird to eat on its own.

It can be either genetic or injury at a very young age. There are some studies that indicate that the gene causing it is not uncommon, but only a very small fraction of the birds with the gene develop the crossed beaks.

There is a cream that proved to be effective at loosening the muscles/tendons in the jaw, allowing the beak to align properly. I have not been able to find it, or I would try. The reference is on dunicorns website.

 

[paoniapoultry]

Thanks for the info! My wyandotte is the same size as the others, so I think she can eat just fine. I thought I would have to cull her, but she seems ok for now. The little chick that is developing it is an ameracauna/speckled sussex mix. I am a bit disappointed because I was very excited for this little chick to grow big - and possibly lay pink or gold eggs! Perhaps she still will! It is a very sad condition though.

Has anyone had any experience trimming the beak? Does it hurt them? Do you trim the top or bottom or both? Is it too late to trim the 6 month old beak?

I was also wondering if it is related to nutrition... any ideas?

Thanks for the help.

 

[Lollipop]

As stated by verycherry , it is not always a result of inbreeding, however it is certainly a genetic defect and should not be passed along to chicks you may hatch. If you ellect to keep the defected bird, please take care to not breed it........Pop

 

[DarkUnicorn]

I was fortunate enough to adopt a cross beak silkie when it was 3 weeks old.....

I gave it a drop of baby vitamins for a few days and the beak actually has straightened out a lot. The beak is only slightly off and you wouldn't know it unless you really look..... She was adopted by the flock rooster (don't ask) and has been out in the yard ever since getting bigger and fluffier every day....

Try iron free baby vitamins, it may help...

 

[verycherry]

I'd wondered if vitamins would help at all. I'll try anything! I'm going to see if I can find out anything at all about the oil mentioned. Thanks!

 

[DarkUnicorn]

I did alot of looking around the internet just before I got her.... WOW, there's alot of info but no firm reasons.....

Just put the drop directly in her beak every nite that way you know she had a good dose.... then give her a treat for being a good girl

.

I'm waiting for my camera to charge, My oldest borrowed it and I only hope he didn't break it...

I'll get a pic up.

 

[DarkUnicorn]