HELP! 4week old Buff Orpington has a beak problem PICS ON PAGE 2

[dlhunicorn]

Yes...that is ENFAMIL (polyvisol for babys...both are fine though try to get the unflavored one)
never give birds milk ... they lack the enzyme to process it (yogurt does not carry this problem with it) Get proper chick starter if you do not have it and mix in a bit of yogurt or cooked human oatmeal (just enough to make it clump)...no more milk.
ETA: if your bird is so weak that it is not eating nor drinking properly then you need to put elctrolytes in the waterer (your feed store should have this)... UNflavored pedialyte will do in a pinch or you can make up an ORS solution yourself:
From "Practical Wildlife Care" by Les Stocker:
It is possible to mix your own equivalent oral rehydrating salts by using the following ingredients:

7g sodium chloride (NaCl, common salt)
5g sodium bicarbonate (baking soda)
3g potassium chloride (commonly called "Muriate of Potash". Salt substitutes contain mostly potassium chloride)
40g glucose (a common source is corn syrup)
2 litres water

The solution must be mixed thoroughly and discarded after 24 hours.

only give this if the bird has been drinking insufficiently and you suspect dehydration.
If too weak to eat the normal chick starter above you can get handfeeding formula for baby parrots at a petstore (this is a powder you add water to) and mix that up and gently feed into beak being very careful not to put too much in at once (the bird MUST swallow on its own)

 

[HenHaven]

I have a cross beak EE. If this is the problem, make a thin, runny mash with your chick starter and water. If the chick can drink, then this should work. Better yet, use water with Avia Charge in it to boost the nutrients.

I try to put out a wet mash every day, just to make sure she gets enough to eat. She is smallish, but she is spry and seemingly healthy. She just finished a full molt and looks great!

 

[nick101]

well, just called the local feed store, and they said that they're closed, wont be able to get him avia charge till tommorow. it so sad to see him he is just laying there not being able to get up, and his beak so weird looking.I don't know what i can give him until tommorow... took away the milk and giving him yogurt, sugared water, and cooked oatmeal, wont even eat that, he is sleeping looking like he is dead only he is still breathing and opening his eyes every once in a while.

 

[nick101]

ok, got him some mediacted starter today, with some avia charge, he drinks the water but not eating the food. his beak i found out today, is broken unfurtunately. I have no clue what caused this, his beak has been broken so hard , i think that is the reason, why he wont pick up his head, open his eyes, or walk. Here are some pictures, hope this helps.

hope these pictures help abit thanks!!

 

[jazzchicken]

Man, that looks bad. Hope he gets better.

 

[silkiechicken]

That looks like a genetic defect there that has been slowly manifesting it self as it grows. Might have hit the critical point where there is not much more you can do. If that was my chick I would cull it.

 

[nick101]

No way i'm culling him. He will hopefully get bettter, i have faith in him.

 

[nick101]

i think i know what went wrong, for the last few weeks i noticed him on the side of the brooder, i was looking through the internet and found out that if chickens stay away or to the corner of the broder far from the light they are too hot, so, what i am guessing due to the high temperatures in the brooder, he got "sunburned"? what to do with chick "sunburn" his skin seems kind of red.... i feel terrible... help please!

 

[silkiechicken]

If he was the only one on the side of the brooder, your lamp height is fine. At 4 weeks, temps will be good at about 75 under the lamp. If you can get him to eat and drink, he may recover, if not he may starve to death. A sun burn will not cause a beak to go wry. Like when a human baby gets sun burn, their bone plates do not start growing at unequal rates.

I doubt it is anything you did to the chick and I hold firm that it is genetic.

Here is a chick with a similar defect in the beak that showed up early on and thus the chick did not make it. The chick had another problem too as it's brain grew on the outside of the skull. I am warning everybody though, it is a VERY graphic picture so you may not want to click. Had the chick not had the brain defect, it's beak would have grown out incorrectly, with the top growing too short and the bottom getting too long.
VERY GRAPHIC PICTURE, NOT ALIVE note the beak defect. YOU ARE WARNED

 

[nick101]

he will drink lots, i dont give him too much or else he'll drown. once every 2 days he will eat a bit of medicated starter on a bit of water to make it softer for him he will eat only a little bit. his poop is the same since he was born, so im not too worried about that, but i am concerned about his beak, his neck and legs. so sorry about your chick, he looks awful.