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

[AnimalCrazed]

That makes me a little less worried

I'll cross my fingers that this stays small, and if it does get bigger there is always trying to trim or file, I'll figure that out when the time comes! As for now the chick is eating well and whenever I pick her up her crop is full and she can even pick grass so I'm glad that I found this thread!

 

[artsyrobin]

lost little gertie yesterday, he must have had more going on than the beak... sigh.... and you know, i'll try again if one presents itself....

 

[bruceh]

very cute

 

[bruceh]

that last comment of very cute was for bitty the wild looking chicken. the are things you can do for birds that are deformed. you can make a chick chair. byc has a thread for them.
if there is mild discomfort you can treat with a small dose of asprin. also with mild cross beak you can trim with a dremal tool . i applaud the tube feeding. if you are on this thread it shows dedication to life.

 

[AnimalCrazed]

also with mild cross beak you can trim with a dremal tool .

My husband would propably get a kick out of that! Thanks!

 

[Aschenfire]

My Misumi, who is about due for a beak trim I think. She is getting along well at this level of crossbeak and I have hope that she won't get worse. She is a doll!

 

[AnimalCrazed]

How old is She?

 

[Aschenfire]

I'd have to look at my date book but I am 99% sure she is 14 weeks old now. Her beak started out looking normal...it has not gotten to the scary-bad point yet and hopefully with maintenance it will stay good enough that she will not have trouble eating

 

[robinwiththechickens]

Any suggestions for lice eradication on cross-beakers that cannot groom themselves? Poor Britney and Lindsay are COVERED in lice.

I thought we had them all wiped out a few months back, but apparently we just sent them into hibernation or something. These poor girls are absolutely infested. Their previous owner must have never treated them because they are encrusted with lice eggs, which I thought we had killed, but now, since the weather warmed up, are hatching like crazy.

Strangely the rest of the flock seems to be bug-free, I suspect because they are able to groom themselves and take care of the buggies on their own.

I'm at a loss here.

I've tried a tri-fold bath of salt water, followed by Dawn dish-soap, followed by vinegar rinse water. That seemed to help kill the live ones but only delayed the hatching eggs for a couple months.

I've been dusting them regularly with both DE and Permethrin. I've even plucked some of the most lice-egg covered feathers, which I feel terrible about. I know these girls fight hard for every ounce of nutrition and to make them devote energy to growing new feathers feels wrong.

Does anybody have any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[MadabtChickens]

I have a litter pan that I put ashes from my burn pile in. I've also heard that Diatomaceous Earth (food grade) helps with all kinds of bugs. http://www.tractorsupply.com/red-la...=65616&ddkey=http:ProductDisplay#BVRRWidgetID