EE with beak where top and bottom do not line up right

[WingingIt]

Hopefully the picture works (first time posting pic here). This is one of my EE chicks. They are roughly three and a half weeks old. As you can see, the top and bottom parts of her beak do not line up right.

Anyone have any experience with this? Will it get worse as she gets older/bigger? So far she's eating and drinking OK and is growing at the same rate as the others.

Thanks for any info. you can give me.

Edited to add: I hope I put this in the right section. It's not an emergency but I didn't know where else to put it. Please move it if it belongs somewhere else.

 

[speckledhen]

It is a crossbeak and is usually genetic. I see alot of EEs and Ameraucanas with that ailment. Those are not good for breeding. I had one beautiful 3 month old black Ameraucana cockerel who just started to develop it late and sadly, he was culled. They can live with it sometimes with trimming, but sometimes it just gets worse and the bird slowly starves to death. They must have deep dishes so they can scoop the feed rather than peck at it.

 

[zipzip314]

One of my chicks recently had the same problem. However with mine she was much smaller than the others and wasn't able to eat well at all. Took her to a local vet who works a lot with birds and he trimmed her beak, told me what to do for the next few days and it straightened right out.

 

[WingingIt]

Does anyone have any information on trimming beaks? I'd like to save it if we can. We have two local (in this county) vets but they don't treat chickens. I might be able to talk one of them into trimming if I can explain exactly what I need done and what tool to do it with.

Thanks for any info. anyone can share.

 

[speckledhen]

HenHaven has a crossbeak EE hen who is over 3 years old. She trims her bottom beak regularly and the girl does fine with it. I'm sure someone can give more details.

 

[WingingIt]

Thanks, SpeckledHen. I'm hoping someone can tell me how they trim them so I can see if we can do it here.

I've been doing more reading and it's sounding like culling is the most common action taken in this situation but she's the prettiest of my two EEs so I don't want to jump to that right off. What I was reading is that it's a defect in the skull formation and will continue their whole life, never knew that before.

Thanks for the comments and help.

 

[speckledhen]

If Lynn can keep Hootie going for all this time, then it's worth a try, as long as you are not hatching chicks from this one. Hootie is a tough girl, rules the flock, has been broody and cared for chicks. At least a hen will lay eggs. A rooster who can't be bred due to the genetic nature of the crossbeak and can't lay hasn't much use except as a pet.

 

[pebblessix]

The beak can be filed with an emery board rather than trimmed. I think this is easier to do. An emery board like a nail tech uses that is about 100 grit, (like sandpaper grit) works really well. If you can shorten the beak and then tape the mouth shut, properly lined up, for several weeks, you may be able to straighten the beak out. You will need first aid tape to tape the beak shut. You will have to hand feed, do not allow pecking at food and make sure you give plenty of water or electrolyte solution when the tape is off. It all has to be done with a large syringe or a crumble mixture can be fed with a narrow baby spoon. I mix crumbles with an electrolyte solution to make sure there are plenty of vitamins. I have also used baby cereal or cream of wheat because of a thinner consistency than the crumbles. Very time consuming, I know because I have done it. At first, it is really messy to spoon feed and water with a syringe, but the bird gets used to it. It takes about an hour to feed a bird when you first start using this method. Once they are used to it, feeding can be finished in less than 30 minutes. When necessary, I feed this way 3 - 5 times per day, depending on the bird. This was what the vet told me to do for a cross beak and it worked. I also use this feeding method when I have a very sick bird that has lost interest in eating. It may seem extreme, but it will keep a sick bird from losing all of it's strength and they get an opportunity to recover. I have one cross beak silkie that we just keep her beak filed and she eats from a deep bowl. I did not know to tape her beak when she was a chick. Good Luck.