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

[Wyleiria]

Here are more pictures of my cross beak chick named Moon Moon. I've had her a week and nervously check her crop every evening and so far she hasn't had trouble filling it, although she spills her food quite often trying to eat in a deep dish.

She is very difficult to get a good picture of because she is either constantly moving or trying to snuggle up to me. I think she is about 5 weeks old.

 

[Wyleiria]

Oh my I looked back through my phone and found the pic I took last week vs today. It looks much worse.

Is this considered severe? She is able to fill her crop with starter...

 

[Skink]

Moon moon is a cute name! I think hers would be considered severe, yes. It couldn't be much worse without making a right angle out of her beak. With maintenance and attention, as long as she's getting the food in her, try not to worry about the future so much. Consider giving wet feed, see how she does with poultry nipples, and cross your fingers to hope she thrives. She'll always need extra attention but if you can give that to her, her outlook is good

She might need tube feeding someday but from what I've picked up parsing other stories, if they figure out how to eat with such a bad beak this young they tend to be pretty self-sufficient.

 

[jkemker]

This is my special needs baby. You can see that she has what I'm assuming is a severe cross beak not to mention she has 5 toes. I got worried about how she was always at the feeding bowl. It was like she was always hungry. I began feeding her with an eye dropper every few days. I feed her egg yolks and water (separately). Is that ok? She did have a full crop tonite and am grateful to this thread for educating me to check that. My questions are... is egg yolk OK? enough or should I add/change? Should I be giving her water through eye dropper? She is always vocalizes/crying. Should I tube feed? She's about 12 weeks old and is a bit smaller than her sister. The chicks I got at the same time, including her sister, are very protective of her. Any and all suggestions are appreciated.

Also... On mites, we sprinkle mite killer on the floor of the coop every time we clean it. When it's rainy and hot, we sprinkle between cleanings. Mites are the silent killer. It's the leading cause of losing our girls before we understood. By the time we realized there was a problem, it was too late.

 

[brittfish]

I trim the top beak when it starts getting a hook on it but we've never touched her bottom beak. I worry about it continuously growing and becoming a problem. Any input?

 

[Allears]

Bless you for the patience you have!

 

[kukupecpec]

I used to follow this thread back when i had Lady, my tiny crossbeak. RIP Lady =)

I've just recently taken in a new cross beak and have noticed some things and thought you guys could give me some insight =)

This is Buttercup - she's a buff orpington, about 6 months old. She was brought to me by a ferrier, who often rescues special needs poultry in her work travels, who knew I have a mild flock and some veterinary background. And of course a love for chickens!

She's been with us about 2 weeks now and I'm getting to know her better. She learned the nipple waterer very quick, and was previously living in a flock of 30 of her hatch mates unknown to the owner, so she can eat regular Feed just fine on her own. I do make sure she has a nice deep bowl full, but I've noticed she will squeeeeeeeeeze into the tiny brooder door and eat the chick feed. Is the chick feed more nutritious for her since she'll most likely never lay eggs? I'm happy to let her eat whatever she needs, I just want to make sure I'm providing all the nutrients she needs.

 

[artsyrobin]

what a sweetheart! my crossbeak hen lays just fine- i keep her on high protein layer feed- i have 3 CB roos where the top beak curls down like that so i file it when it interferes with eating, i'd monitor her weight, if she starts feeling thin i'd add either infant baby cereal, the kind you add water to, oatmeal or cornmeal to help get weight on- if you are on facebook we have a crossbeak group there too-pm me anytime if you need help with her. I also discovered with crossbeaks not being able to preen well, you need to keep an eye out for mites...ughh

 

[artsyrobin]

I trim the top beak when it starts getting a hook on it but we've never touched her bottom beak. I worry about it continuously growing and becoming a problem. Any input?

i file both with ginger- here is how i do it, when it starts interfereing with eating

 

[brittfish]

I feed my crossbeak layer crumbles made into a mash. She lays more eggs than my other ameraucana hens well easter egger I think anyways usually everyday sometimes 2 days in a riw. Not gonna lie she lives inside but we are so attached to her I wouldn't have it any other way she loves to snuggle and gets on our lap almost as soon as we sit down. We like to make sure her crop is nice and full at night and she has food pretty much 6 am til 8 pm when she reminds us to stir it. She always has it eaten down as far as she can when we get home from work and let's us know how she feels about being left alone all day with nothing but the cats and dog. Well the dog is her best friend.... if only he'd let her sit right on him...