Guidance needed for semi-severe crossbeak

[FiedlerFamChicks]

We rescued a 6 month old polish hen who has very severe cross beak. This is my first encounter with this and am looking for suggestions and recommendations for feeders and waterers that will help her. When eating from a bowl she flings the food all over.

 

[The Coop Crew]

Hi! This is one subject I’m actually pretty helpful in! I have a chicken with a pretty severe case of cross beak. She’s around 15 weeks and we’ve had her since hatch.
Because her beak is crossed she obviously cannot pickup food like normal so there are a few things you can do.
The easiest (hopefully it’ll work) is to feed her out of a deep dish that gives her room to scoop with her bottom beak. You’ll want to check her crop to see if she’s getting enough this way.
If that doesn’t work you can make her wet mash which is just food mixed with water (oatmeal consistency). When the food “clumps” together it’s much easier for them to scoop.
Please let me know if you have any other questions and I will try my best to help!
Here’s my cross beak Dorothy who thinks she’s a parrot

 

[The Coop Crew]

Also, here’s an article I published not too long ago with some more information
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...-beak-chickens-from-hatch-to-adulthood.79390/

 

[Bean1028]

I wouldn't say that's a very severe case. It may seem like it, but from the pics it doesn't look too severe. Lots of attention needed at feeding time. Mash is a great option, along with scrambled eggs, oatmeal & fruits & veggies. We have one with moderate crossbeak. His top beak is overgrown & caused the bottom one (which was straight) to grow crooked at the end. He quit eating the mash around 20 weeks old & opts for regular pellets & other soft foods, with his top being overgrown it seems the mash became more of a hassle for him. (HE chose this, not me. I was offering mash daily & a separate dish of pellets for the rest of the flock). At his worst he strongly favored whole blackberries and these seemed to be the easiest thing for him to eat when it was hardest to eat. (To this day tho blueberries are a hassle for him.) He is 29 weeks old now, takes care of himself & his ladies very well & is everyone's favorite (all hens included! And our hens apparently not like their last 2 roos). At 15 weeks old we had a scare & thought we were going to loose him, but he ended up being the strongest rooster of the 3 we had!! In fact, this boy can STILL clear our 8 ft. fences if he wanted to & rooosts on a bar 5 ft. off the ground in his run. I trim his top beak still as needed, when it seems it's getting hard for him to eat, but not as much as I needed to when he was younger. I will say, from watching him eat & hand feeding him (which we still do daily at treat time to make sure he gets some too) it seems he definitely scoops his food up with his top beak, not the bottom, but some chickens are different like that. I guess my point is this...you've got this. Pay close attention & give lots of love & time. If you're not comfortable trimming her beak call a vet. I'm not sure all of them offer this, but I know some do. As far as the feed dishes go, cup styles are recommended for crossbeak, but our boy did not like them. It seemed like it was harder for him to eat that way. I found when hand feeding him it was easiest for him if I made a cone shape with my fingers around his food, but that's just my chicken. He now eats from the same dishes the rest of the flock uses. Suggestions go along way, but I strongly recommend trying different things until you find out what works for you & your girl & what is easiest for her to eat & eat out of. Best of luck!

 

[The Coop Crew]

Commenting to add that Dorothy ate mash every day, three times a day until last week when we installed a PVC pipe feeder and she is able to eat from that! (I’ve been checking her crop to make sure she’s getting enough). The PVC opening is wide/deep enough that she can really get in there to scoop! Plus it’s zip tied to the side of the run so she can’t spill it!

 

[FiedlerFamChicks]

Hi! This is one subject I’m actually pretty helpful in! I have a chicken with a pretty severe case of cross beak. She’s around 15 weeks and we’ve had her since hatch.
Because her beak is crossed she obviously cannot pickup food like normal so there are a few things you can do.
The easiest (hopefully it’ll work) is to feed her out of a deep dish that gives her room to scoop with her bottom beak. You’ll want to check her crop to see if she’s getting enough this way.
If that doesn’t work you can make her wet mash which is just food mixed with water (oatmeal consistency). When the food “clumps” together it’s much easier for them to scoop.
Please let me know if you have any other questions and I will try my best to help!
Here’s my cross beak Dorothy who thinks she’s a parrot

I love that she is part parrot! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. I gave her mash yesterday for the first time and she loved it! It was the first time she had a full crop. I just purchased a scale so that we could start weighing her as well.
Do you have any recommendations for providing water? Millie dunks her entire face and head floof in the bowl and is absolutely soaked all the time.

 

[The Coop Crew]

I love that she is part parrot! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. I gave her mash yesterday for the first time and she loved it! It was the first time she had a full crop. I just purchased a scale so that we could start weighing her as well.
Do you have any recommendations for providing water? Millie dunks her entire face and head floof in the bowl and is absolutely soaked all the time.

She just thinks she’s a parrot
I’m so glad she loved the mash and was able to fill her crop!!!
As far as water…I’m not 100% sure. We use a standard waterer that is small because we only have four girls. I’ll attach a picture. The opening is too small for Dorothy to fit her whole head in so we don’t have that problem. So maybe try offering it to her in something she can’t fit her head in?

 

[Bean1028]

Here is another shot of the brown one. I could be crazy, but it looks like she's a brown/blue or brown/lav by the wings. I'll include a front shot (in the sun) where she looks totally different...but you can still see that silver/blue/lav coloring.

 

[FiedlerFamChicks]

Update: After just a week of mash 2x per day, vitamins, baths and help preening, Millie, is making gains and looking so much better!

 

[The Coop Crew]

Update: After just a week of mash 2x per day, vitamins, baths and help preening, Millie, is making gains and looking so much better!

I am SO happy to see this