cucko maran with an underbite???

greytmommy

Songster
8 Years
Mar 26, 2011
297
3
111
so I noticed today that my CM has an underbite! Her bottom beak is longer than her top, and the top beak goes into her bottom beak.

she is eating fine, seems healthy and happy. Is this something I need to be concerned about?
 
bump....

do I need to trim this? please let me know! These are my first set of chickens....
 
I don't know how to help you, but am interested in knowing what people suggest.
I have a cross beak and she seems otherwise healthy and able to eat just fine, so I let her be just the way she is.
 
Since it isnt a cross beak, I worry it will start to become a problem. and I very LOVE this chicken! She is hands down my sweetest one. We had a coon attack a couple of weeks ago (ripped our slide door right off and gradded a hen from the coop!) and she was mildly injured. Since then she has been the biggest love bug. Always hopps in my lap when I sit in my chair outside. I dont want anything to happen to her....
 
We have a Salmon Favorelle who has the same thing. In the past we've trimmed her top beak so that it wouldn't put pressure on the bottom beak and we trimmed the bottom beak back as much as was physically possible (before we hit living tissue). As she's matured and she's living outside now, she's been able to keep the beak trimmed on her own. But I would start filing the beak down for a while and see if that helps. If might be something you'll have to keep on doing or...once you get the beak down, she might start using it in a way that she keeps the bottom beak trimmed herself.

Good luck!
 
how do I file it? with just a metal nail file? Or should I use a dremmel like I do on my dog's nails?
 
Depends on how much you need to file. A simple nail file will do it but I think it puts more torque on their neck. We have a cross beak and we use the dremmel-like tool since it's much quicker. You need to hold their head steady and make sure you don't injure inside of the opposite beak that you're NOT working on. If you're going to use what you use for your dog, at least give the chicken it's own file head. Don't use the very same head that you use on the dog's dirty nails. We switch the heads out so the chicken's file head is nice and clean.

The choice is up to you.
 

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