Feeding Little Miss Cross Beak

[AngieChick]

My girl is around 30 weeks old and seemed to be doing fine. But, when I picked her up yesterday, she seemed pretty light. Today I made them a mash out if their crumbles, a few sunflower seeds, a few blueberries and hot water. I will follow up with yogurt. Am I on the right track for her? I did put the mash in 2 containers to make sure she didn't get crowded out.

I do trim her beak, and it's really more of a sideways overbite than a drastic cross. But, it's enough to hurt her ability to pick food up with it.

 

[gumpsgirl]

It sounds to me like you are on the right track with her and mashing up the food. The only thing that I might do different is to try and feed her separately instead of with the whole flock. That way you will be certain that she won't get crowded out and gets enough to eat. It seems that the cross beaked chickens have to work so much harder at eating than their counter parts and it just takes them so much longer to get their food intake in them. My concern at this point would be if the others are eating all the food before she can get her fill.

 

[AngieChick]

Thank you for the feedback. I usually let them freerange while I cook and can keep an eye on them. Maybe I'll bring her in the kitchen with me then so that I can make sure she eats.

 

[PurpleChicken]

We had a super sweet crossbeak that we lost. She just couldn't compete
with the rest of the flock. A little extra TLC would have kept her alive
and healthy.

So, it sounds to me like your plan will work great and your crossbeak will
be a happy and spoiled ckickie.