Dealing with scissor beak

[Jtaranc]

This EE chick is 18 days old, was born totally normal, growing well, but noticed this last night.

Anything I can do to make it better?

 

[CalgaryFarmer]

I don’t think so.

It may not be able to pick little bits of food so you may need to ensure the food dish has a enough food in it so it can push its beak into the food.

 

[rosemarythyme]

It will likely continue to worsen as it grows. Wet or fermented feed in a deeper dish and water available in a deeper dish will help it eat and drink, but if you notice it's struggling to keep on weight or not growing well then that could indicate its unable to feed itself well enough, and you'll need to make a decision on what to do at that time.

 

[Debbie292d]

This EE chick is 18 days old, was born totally normal, growing well, but noticed this last night.

Anything I can do to make it better?

We've got one that's 2 years old, and now have another one that's about 3 weeks.

No, it doesn't get better, but the best thing for it is a deeper dish (we went to Goodwill and found a few narrow but deep heavy ones that work great) and wet the feed to a sloppy mash.

We did that for about 5 months, until she could free-range with the free rangers. The DIY PVC port 5-gallon bucket feeders work great for her to eat dry food as she can stick her head in there and keep eating until she's full. The problem with regular feeders is they peck and most falls back out.

We bring her in about three times a year and trim her beak. She does better right after trimming as they almost match up then. We use an electric fingernail file/Dremel.

 

[Jtaranc]

We've got one that's 2 years old, and now have another one that's about 3 weeks.

No, it doesn't get better, but the best thing for it is a deeper dish (we went to Goodwill and found a few narrow but deep heavy ones that work great) and wet the feed to a sloppy mash.

We did that for about 5 months, until she could free-range with the free rangers. The DIY PVC port 5-gallon bucket feeders work great for her to eat dry food as she can stick her head in there and keep eating until she's full. The problem with regular feeders is they peck and most falls back out.

We bring her in about three times a year and trim her beak. She does better right after trimming as they almost match up then. We use an electric fingernail file/Dremel.

Any advice on how to trim? Am I trimming the top bottom or both? I’m afraid I’m gonna overdo it and make it worse.

She has grown the same rate as everyone else so far.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Any advice on how to trim? Am I trimming the top bottom or both? I’m afraid I’m gonna overdo it and make it worse.

I'd wait until she's older to begin trimming. I use a coarse emery board and dog nail trimmers if there's a lot more excess to trim. You want to try and even things up as much as possible (like if there's overgrowth on one side, so that it's as symmetrical as possible) and smooth out any cracks or snags. If the tip is overgrown then you'll want to trim it back so it's not so long, but be careful to avoid the more opaque center which is like a quick in a dog or cat's nails.

I happen to have this on hand from someone else asking about trimming. So for example here, green is about as far back as I'd go on lower, pink on upper. You can see the opaque center pretty clearly here.

 

[CalgaryFarmer]

Each of the top and bottom of the beak is trough shaped. If you are using clippers, don’t trim across the beak as this can cause damage further up the beak. Try to clip along on each side at the tip.

 

[Debbie292d]

I'd wait until she's older to begin trimming. I use a coarse emery board and dog nail trimmers if there's a lot more excess to trim. You want to try and even things up as much as possible (like if there's overgrowth on one side, so that it's as symmetrical as possible) and smooth out any cracks or snags. If the tip is overgrown then you'll want to trim it back so it's not so long, but be careful to avoid the more opaque center which is like a quick in a dog or cat's nails.

I happen to have this on hand from someone else asking about trimming. So for example here, green is about as far back as I'd go on lower, pink on upper. You can see the opaque center pretty clearly here.
View attachment 4321160

This is pretty close to what we do but we go up on the top beak more. Hubby does it. He starts with a pet nail clipper, then finishes with an electric nail file.

 

[rosemarythyme]

This is pretty close to what we do but we go up on the top beak more. Hubby does it. He starts with a pet nail clipper, then finishes with an electric nail file.

View attachment 4321257

View attachment 4321260

I would probably go up higher on the photo I referenced (it's not my bird) but from the angle of the photo I couldn't see the quick well enough on the upper beak to know exactly how far up would be "too far."