Crossed Beak

[ChickenCharmer]

The lady at the feed store asked me to take care of a chick with a crossed beak that no one else wanted to buy. I have been feeding her chick starter mixed with water and sugar through a straw. I haven't seen her eat on her own yet, and I'm not willing to feed her this way for the rest of her life. Can crossed-beak chickens eat on their own? Also, my mom thinks we might be able to do something to heal it, like put a brace on it so it can straighten as it grows. How can we do that?
Thanks for the input,
Malief

 

[GotGame]

you can trim a cross beak, and if you catch it early before it gets too bad you can keep it from getting too bad...too fast...I have been told most dont make it...we have one that is crossed, we keep it trimmed every couple of weeks, and she does ok but we have to keep a pan of food out that is deep, so she can scoop food up, since she cant pick it up like the others....more trouble than most will go through, since many wont make it anyway...

 

[lurky]

I have a crossbeak that learned to eat on her own. I used a coffee can of feed and she scooped it in, then we hung a crock in her area and fill it everyday
for her to scoop her food. Yours should get the hang of it. It feels like alot of responsibility at first, and it is, but it is well worth it when they understand what your doing is for her.
My crossbeak KNOWS that the crock is for HER and she guards it as best she can. I think if you let anyone eat out of the can, she will want to also, then she will realize it is easier to get a full belly,
and come for it. Then we put up the crock, and when she was eating out of the can, we poured it into the crock. Hey, it works

Good Luck!!!!

 

[Chickenmaven]

I have a cross beak. I trim her beak with nail clippers, every few months. She eats fine. She is a good layer & setter.

 

[Samilitant]

I guess a cross beak is where the lower part is off to one side? One of my 6 chickens has it, and she has been eating ok--mostly free range, but I throw a scoop of feed out each day. Maybe she gets more dirt than the others, but she isn't any smaller or malnourished looking. I've also never trimmed it since I don't know how you would do that without hurting the bird.

 

[lurky]

Here is my crossbeak, and then with her crock so you see what i meant........ you can tell she aint starving!!!!

we use a dremel sander for her beak when the part hanging over gets too long and her beak wont close right.

 

[Samilitant]

Here's "brownie" with her crossed beak then;

 

[ADozenGirlz]

Here's my scissor beak girl, Esther. She's never had a problem eating. We occasionally snip her top beak (every few months or so) when it gets really long. She spends a lot more time at the feeder than the other girls b/c it's a challenge to get it in, but she does just fine and is one of our best layers!

 

[ScaredOfShadows]

Quote:
Beautiful hen - what kind is she? That cross beak is crazy! I'm surprised she managed to survive the chick weeks - but glad she did - love the coloring and like you said - she's definately HEALTHY

 

[MyKidLuvsGreenEgz]

I know no one has posted on this thread in a while but ... I have some bantam eggers, and have had such a horrible time with them... several died. Now I have one with a big red thing extruding from the heiney (but it's getting a little better). Then there's OddBall (named by my kid) who's got a crossed beak. NO idea how s/he eats or drinks but is growing at the same rate as the others.

Put a pic of her/him on my blog. Do you think there's anything to be concerned about? I won't hatch any of her eggs, or if it's a boy, I won't use him for breeding. But the crossing of the beak does seem to be getting worse.

I read on this thread about trimming the beak but I don't think I could do that. But it looks like others with crossed beaks manage to do well.

Thanks.