Diary of a Crossbeak: Support for Special Needs Chickens and their Keepers

[koris]

So today I helped hatch one of my chickens. He was looking funny through his lil pip he made in his shell. I opened the incubator to see what was going on, and there it was.... cross-beak!! I have NEVER seen this before and I freaked out. I helped him ( the kids call him Cyclops) hatch very slowly taking my time and waiting for him to be fully ready. Out he came, in my hand and just like one of the other chicks. He does have a deformed skull with one eye missing. I was told I should cull him, by cutting his head off.... NO WAY CAN I DO THAT... So I decided to put him with the other 10 ( whom all hatched normal) and see what happens. I know Cyclops will be high maintenance for a little while and I can do that, hoping he will become kinda independent too though.

I read ppl make mash for their special chickens... what is it made up of??? For now I may buy a few jars of baby food, but in the long run that won't work out for me. (if Cyclops even makes it that far)

I am very heart broken over this, but fully believe it was a deformation that came from the hen or rooster ( both amerucana). I want to give this lil guy a shot a life and not cull him!!!

Any advice from someone who has dealt with this before?? I just love this lil guy already and want to try and give him a life...
(Is it stupid I can't kill him? That I care for him the way I do?)

 

[AlpineButterfly]

I just make mash out of normal chicken food and water. But my crossbeak didn't start showing until she was several weeks old, and isn't too bad (I file her beak every week). She can eat crumble and pellets, but I make wet food at least once a week.

Good luck with Cyclops.

 

[Katt66]

I have a crossbeaked EE rooster as well. His name is Peedles. Born June 20th last year. He's what? 35 wks old now. He's actually only with us because he is crossbeaked and I knew he wouldn't make it at my Aunt's which is where all the other roosters went back to once we knew they weren't hens. He is also my older daughter, Kali's favorite. The one and only man in her life when all else fails and everything else is gone from bad to worse. He's comforted her when her guinea pig died this past fall and after each and every broken heart through her very rocky 15th year. lol There was never a question actually of Peedles going anywhere. Thankfully, his crossbeak isn't too bad and, aside from a very slight twist in his face and jawline, is not much of a problem at all with regular trimming and fermented feed.



I use my "PediPaws" dog nail trimmer on him once a week or so to lessen the cruve of his top beak and file away the bottom which grows incredibly long without the top to keep it worn down naturally.

He didn't show any signs of crossbeak at hatching...here he is at 1 day old:

Here he is again at about 6 wks old, showing just a slight hard curve in his top beak and his bottom not really twisted out to the side too far yet.

Here he is a week later than the previous picture and you can distinctly see his bottom beak and jaw now twisting out to the right. As this happened his top beak hooked more and twisted off to the left side of his bottom jaw.

And so it's been just lots of trimming and maintenance since to keep him fat and happy. When he was about 3 months old he started losing condition and looking thin. It was then I realized he could no longer eat without some intervention. That's when I started both trimming his beak down regularly AND feeding the whole flock Fermented Feed. I started with just wet feed actually as he seemed better able to eat it out of a bowl at chest height if he could just sort of mash his face into it. With dry feed though it just went everywhere and he didn't actually catch much. He spent all day long just trying to eat. So with it wet down it stuck together and when he mashed his face into it, he actually caught a good bit in his beak. This led quickly to fully fermenting the feed as it fermented on its own in the mason jar on my kitchen counter. Now I feed the whole flock fully fermented feed. A 5 qt ice cream bucket sits on my counter. Once in the morning I give them half of it, about six cups. Throw three scoops of crumbles back in, top off with water till it looks right. ("Right" took me a few days to find, as far as what would soak up and ferment properly for me without being too wet for him to eat or too sloppy or that would overflow onto the counter, as it DOES grow in that bucket D

Like I said though, Peedles showed no signs as a hatchling of any problems. And later on has been very well maintained on just regular beak trimming and fermented feed.

My only other encounter with a crossbeaked chick did NOT end so happily unfortunately.
When we ordered our chicks from CackleHatchery this past fall, one of the EE chicks they sent us was a lovely little white one, but also severely crossbeaked and only one eyed with a noticeable deformed skull. I didn't bother pressing the issue with Cackle because it was the very end of the hatching season, it was only one and they had thrown extra chicks in to make up for casualties and I know everybody makes mistakes once in a while. Those people are looking at nothing but chicks day in and day out. My eyes would go buggy after a few days and personally I'd probably lose my mind if I was a chick sorter. XD

Anyway, from the start, she was as energetic and active as the rest of the batch. (all still living off of their residual yolk from recently hatching) She never ate and never drank though, even with constantly dipping her beak in the water, etc. And over the course of the day or two after we had them, she grew increasingly lethargic. Finally, both for fear of my daughters becoming extremely attached only to be heartbroken quickly, and for fear she'd die and the other chicks would pick at her, thus learning a bad habit from very young on, I decided to euthanize her.

 

[AlpineButterfly]

My crossbeak baby is laying eggs! She's growing up!

I think this is her second egg (the first one I found broken under the roost):

35 grams, and very oval.

Here she is about a month ago:


Violet is now about 40.5 weeks old, black frizzle cochin bantam.

Here's an album showing her crossbeak progression: https://www.backyardchickens.com/g/a/6511146/violets-crossbeak-progression/

 

[ClaireAjideh]

I have a 2 day old emu with crossbeak. Its mild now but I'm so worried. Can I cure it? Do cell salts work? Please help!

 

[nurschic]

I have a crossbeak baby…she is 6 weeks old and it is mild compared to the pictures I have seen online. This is my first go around with chicks, so crossbeak is totally a mystery to me and I have a few questions…….please help if you have any answers or advice!!!
1. When should I start trimming the beak? Only the top?
2. Can she use poultry nipples? or should I put a different water bowl in for her?
3. Will it continue to get worse?
4. Any special care I need to do for her?

Here is a pic of her at about 4 weeks…..

 

[BullChick]

I have a 2 day old emu with crossbeak. Its mild now but I'm so worried. Can I cure it? Do cell salts work? Please help!

I think we were all meaning to respond, then forgot to. So sorry!!!
No, you can't cure it. If it was born with a cross beak, it should never be bred (or bread, but that is a whole other subject!

). The only thing you can do is get the chick used to being handled, and having its beak filed.
I hope things are working out with your chick. Please do post here again. No one meant to ignore your plea for help.

 

[BullChick]

I have a crossbeak baby…she is 6 weeks old and it is mild compared to the pictures I have seen online. This is my first go around with chicks, so crossbeak is totally a mystery to me and I have a few questions…….please help if you have any answers or advice!!!
1. When should I start trimming the beak? Only the top?
2. Can she use poultry nipples? or should I put a different water bowl in for her?
3. Will it continue to get worse?
4. Any special care I need to do for her?

Here is a pic of her at about 4 weeks…..

How she drinks is up to her. She might be able to get enough water from the nipples. Take the time to watch, and see. Is she always at the water, trying to drink? Ditto with food. I began fermenting feed because of Cadbury. It got to the point that she needed wet food, but the others calling her back always distracted her. I finally just fermented all the feed so she could eat when she was hungry (freeing up a lot of my time, and worry) and the others wouldn't eat all her food. The fermented feed is better for the flock anyway.
Get a Pedi Paws or use dog nail clippers. Trim whenever it is needed (I had to do it monthly) and usually the top beak. If the bottom needs it, do it too.
And it will get worse, but not necessarily "oh my gosh that is unbelievable" bad.

 

[AlpineButterfly]

I agree with MotorcycleChick... we didn't mean to ignore you!

I don't know what cell salts are.

Start filing early! I waited a while, and have more work to do now, because my girl's beak grew past where it should have, and now I slowly have to work back to where it doesn't hinder her much.

I file Violet's beak every week with a pedi-paw. Because of her particular beak, I file both top and bottom.

My girls have poultry nipples, but also a normal water dish. Violet drinks out of the nipples just as much as the others.

Whenever I give treats, I make sure that I hold some in my hand for Violet, because she's not as good at picking things up.

Good luck!

 

[BullChick]

I need to clarify my response about the nipples. If a chick is spending the whole day trying to eat and drink, they are not getting enough. They need a new way to eat/drink. That is what I meant by asking if they were always at the nipples or food dish. The FF (fermented feed) will help with the digestion in many ways, but it is also great in that it is a guarantee that the chick is getting at least some water without having to work for it.
The beak is like a dog's nail. It has a quick in it. The longer you wait to trim/file, the longer the quick gets. Each time you file or trim, the quick recedes, allowing you to get the beak shorter without damage the next time. Please take the time to find out how long to wait for it to recede. I think it is a week.