day old chick with serious scissor beak, only one eye, what to do ?

[crysmom]

I'm sorry to say but "handi" and "cap" were euthanized this evening.

the one with the scissor beak and no eye was very active and was able to drink but only when I dripped it for him or dipped his beak in the water, due to the severe crossed beak he was unable to pick up food at all not to mention he was substantially smaller than the rest and they weren't very gentle with him

the other baby had a foot issue and was really small and an enormous abdomen he was the one who was stuck to the incubator floor when I got up. I watched him all day and he was very lethargic unable to stand upright and one leg was constantly folded behind him. eventually after 18 hours he was kind of dry but not fluffy just crispy? I moved him to the brooder and the others were on him like flies on poop. it was really sad.

I'm fairly certain for any hope of survival these two chicks would have needed to be handfed and kept seperated and i'm not sure if they would have been okay even if I had the time and area to do that. It was a heartwrenching decision made more difficult by the fact they were both partridge and that was what I really wanted in this hatch.

I think this is a situation where I should have been a lot more hands off in the hatch. the rest had all hatched and these ones were pipped but just cheeping for over 20 hours when the others had hatched, fluffed and moved on. I helped them out, there was no way they would have made it out of the shells.

Thank goodness my husband came home I just didn't have the heart

 

[texaschickmama]

Oh, that's hard, and I'm sorry that you had to go through that. I believe you did the right thing.

 

[seminolewind]

Sorry. But you did the right thing. I think all of us who hatch eggs will have to cross that bridge sooner or later. I'm glad your husband helped you with the deed. Karen

 

[chixrme]

I agree with my cohorts here: you did the right thing. I was just making diary notes tonight, and it occurred to me that even one egg and its wee occupant puts a tremendous burden on us, morally and emotionally. Been there; done that.
( I try to tell DH not to help any chicks out of their tight spot when they appear to be in trouble, because "most" of the time the chick in question doesn't make it. But because they sometimes do, and turn out healthy, he continues to help under certain conditions, and I am always grateful that he cares so much about what started out MY hobby.)

 

[cwildeky]

Thanks for the post about the scissor beak, and I'm sorry; it sounds like your poor chick had a lot against him.

I've been curious about scissor beak as I have two Auracana hens with the same problem. Both from the same hatchery, both brown/golden-laced ... all the other Auracanas from the batch are fine (though of other color combinations). So I figured it was genetic; contacted the hatchery and all that but hadn't been able to find any info on the poor things' chances or if there was anything to be done. Anyway, growth was the rule of thumb I used -- if they seemed to be growing at a reasonable rate, etc. I'd give them a chance ... and so far they're doing OK. I do special things for them like put scratch grain in a crockery dog bowl so they can "plunge" their beaks in and have a shot at getting some (yep, we go through a lot of scratch); I also make sure the feeder's always got enough in the pan for the same reason. And I hand-feed them occasionally, so they follow me everywhere.

But the poor wee birds -- one's beak is SEVERELY crossed; I don't know how she eats at all, but apparently she does. I fantasize about taking a pair of nippers and trying to trim the beak into something workable for her, but I'd probably kill her for trying, so ...

Anyway, peace to your guy. It sounds like you did the right thing.

 

[MaransGuy]

I had a silver laced polish hatch out perfectly normal looking. Within a month the beak started to twist apart. I tried to let her go as long as she would eat but her growth slowed more and more. Eventually, she was about half the size of the others. I finally decided that she would need to be culled but found her dead one morning before I could do it. I was relieved that I was spared the act but felt terrible that the poor thing starved to death. I would cull early and avoid the suffering.

Richard

 

[ole-crone]

cwildeky - you might be able to fix it. When we bought a new cage for our parrot, he developed a scissor beak from climbing up and down the bars all day. For a couple of years we'd have to take him to the vet every few months and they would reform his beak - using a dremel drill. Luckily, after buying numerous items for him to stand on (rather than hang from the side of the cage) the problem went away.

 

[silkiechicken]

The difference with chickens with their cross beaks is that it is a skull deformity rather than a wear and use issue. Not much you can really do if one skulll plate is growing different from the other.

 

[SpottedCrow]

http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2542465360059770868jaVDyM
This is Twist-It, a cross beak MilleFleur D'Uccle. She's at least 2 years old now and it still going strong. She belongs to a member of BYC.
You can trim the top beak back a bit depending on how bad it is.

 

[FarmerDenise]

I have an ameraucana chicken with a seriously crossed beak. She is 7 months old and weighs a little over 1 pound. I take her to the vet about once a month to trim her beak (he uses a dremmel tool). I also have to feed her with a tube, because she cannot get enough to eat most of the time.
She was attacked by a blue jay when she was about 2 weeks old. She was scalped. I nursed her through, but she cannot really open one eye and her beak is almost at right angles.
We keep her in the house. She is really a lot of fun and makes a cool pet. Even if she is a high maintenance chick. When she is outside with us, she stays pretty close and flies up onto our shoulders or head, when something frightens her.
We do get some pretty funny looks from people...