Crossed Beak :-(

[JudyH]

Yep -- coloradochick, mine came from Ideal too! She is 3 weeks old today. I also read it was heriditary.... going to check on her again this morning really closely when I feed and water....

I do hope that she's going to be ok.

 

[Mrs MIA]

Can you post a picture? Trimming beaks is like trimming toenails. I've only had one chick with a cross-beak, and I carefully trimmed it just a couple of times... now he's full grown and you can't even tell.

 

[coloradochick]

What's strange is our EE was okay when she got here and then within the 2 weeks the beak was crossed and getting worse.

It's almost as if her jaw is broke or is that what cross beak stems from?

 

[meriruka]

From what I understand it is a skull deformity.

 

[JudyH]

I will take a pic of her today and post it so you can see. It is really bad... I don't think any amount of trimming would help. It almost looks like her bottom jaw was broken at one time or another and then grew back wrong. I can tell it's a skull deformity because her head is a little weird shaped....

 

[keeperofthehearth]

I have a cornish X X'ed w/EE who has a really bad cross beak. I didn't notice until she was about 2 wks old and it slowly crossed to where it is at today. Yes, her skull/jaw line is deformed & we haven't tried to trim due to the angle of the cross. She runs smaller than the rest but eats well and lays an olive green egg every other day or so. I make sure she has a deep bowl of mash up on a shelf that most of the others don't go up to (so she has a chance to fill her crop at least twice a day

) on and a open bowl to drink out of. I will try to post a pic this afternoon. Named her Fussy but that is mostly because she fusses/whines alot like her mom, Tegan (cornish X).

 

[JudyH]

Quote:
I'm a newbie (as you'll be able to tell from this question LOL) -- what is "mash"??

 

[Wynette]

I had a crossbeak that was pretty bad; she lived to be about 8 months old, but struggled constantly to eat. She stood at the feeder all day long...I had a very deep feeder for her, and I'd moisten the crumble so it would sort of stick into clumps, which seemed to make it easier for her. She never got as filled out as the others from her hatch (she was pure Ameraucana) either. She laid some eggs, then died. I felt horrible. I took her to a vet for a beak reshaping once each 6 weeks, and I thought if I continued, she'd survive.

I don't think, based on my experience, that I'd keep another crossbeak; I think I'd cull. I'm so sorry.

 

[keeperofthehearth]

Here is a pic of Fussy. She usually has wet neck feathers fm getting a drink fm water bowl.

Now in this one you can see that her mouth doesn't completely close. It won't do much good to trim her beak as her jaw line still won't allow her to close her mouth completely.

Fussy is 8mo old. I had to take extra time with her when she was younger, making sure no one bothered her while she ate. Once she started laying eggs, (became a big girl

) She doesn't usually ask for the extra attention. She has learned to go up on her shelf when the other girls are busy elswhere and fill her crop a few times a day.

I'm a newbie (as you'll be able to tell from this question LOL) -- what is "mash"??

Actually what I should have said was a bowl of layer crumbles. Sorry!

I usually mix crumbles w/scratch. She loves her scratch but can't get it up off the ground so she knows she can go up and get some in her bowl. I could have culled her but she is a fussy sweetie and does O.K. She isn't at the bottom of the pecking order and gets to do all things chicken except get snacks off the ground.
Making a decision to cull or not is not always easy. I don't plan on hatching any of Fussy's eggs but am fine w/my decision not to cull her. I am sure you will make the best decision for you and your crossbeaks situation.​

 

[ChickieKeeta]

I had an Ameracauna with scissors beak last year. I had to feed her in a deep dish. She did very well. I got my baby chicks from a feed store. She was several weeks old when it became apparent. I started feeding her away from the flock. She began following me everywhere. Even into the house!

I wet her crumbles for a short while. Then served them dry in a deeper dish. She suddenly disappeared. I think it was the neighborhood owl.