Help with de-beaking....sort of

[Gold Griffin Chicken Mom]

God works in mysterious ways...

I finished reading your thread this morning, then went outside to feed the two month old chicks.

One of my "assorted roosters" has a cross beak! He appears to be a gold-laced Wyandotte. I picked him up and wriggled his beak. It's not a horrible cross, but if it worsens as he ages, he will be unable to eat. He was headed to freezer camp in the Spring, so I guess I'll concentrate on fattening him up while maintaining his beak trim.

Should I contact the hatchery? Would they even care about a skeletal problem in one of their hatchlings?

 

[Primeacres]

Morning Chicken Mom,

The whole cross beak thing, what do you think ?

 

[AinaWGSD]

Aw, his beak looks a lot like my cross-beak's, Buffy, beak.

I would definitely trim it to help him manage better. Personally I prefer the dremmel for beak trims as you don't run the risk of splitting the beak like you can sometimes with clippers. I like to do it on a bright sunny day if possible so that I can easily see where the "live" part of the beak is. Also, done at the right setting, the dremmel will usually cauterize the beak if you accidentally take too much off so there won't be much bleeding. You'll want to pay attention to that lower beak too since birds with such badly misaligned beaks can not wear them down normally on their own. Buffy's lower beak also has a tendency to curl inwards and food and dirt can get trapped. It's not so much an added issue for her eating, but I'm sure it harbors all kinds of bacteria and other yuck that could have a negative impact on her health.

Primeacres, there are a lot of theories about what causes cross beaks and it does appear that there is a strong genetic component (although incubation temperature and humidity are also prime suspects). It isn't apparent as day old chicks, so anyone who buys from a hatchery wouldn't know about it until later (usually 6-8 weeks before it starts to develop). Unfortunately, the hatcheries here really don't care, so contacting them wouldn't do any good. Even if they did, they don't keep accurate records of who's breeding with who and what chicks are sent where so it would be pretty much impossible for them to figure out which birds produced the cross beak chicks and remove them from their breeding stock.

 

[Gold Griffin Chicken Mom]

I'm guessing this is a genetic issue. All of these chicks that came in September have been fed the same. Vitamins were added to their water for that first critical month. I doubt this is a deficiency.

My girls were examining "Mr. Crossbeak" last evening. One nostril is closed and his face is crooked. When he breathes, the soft place beneath his eyes puffs up. I'll see about something for congestion for him today in case that is part of his problems.

Now I need to decide if he is suffering or just puttering along like he always has (and knows no difference).

 

[ZooMummzy]

I know exactly what you are going through right now. My 8 month old RIR rooster was born with one eye and a severely crossed beak. My local feed store gives me all their special need chickens because they know I will give the them best chance at life that I can. I've had him since he was about 1 week old so he's a total pet. Culling him has never been an option so I found ways to make his life easier and better. I have been trimming and filing his beak since this summer but the top beak is now getting caught "open" on the bottom beak. It makes it hard for him to eat and frustrates him to no end since he cannot seem to get it unstuck. I've tried trimming it but since I really do not know what I'm doing with this, I've contacted my vet to see if she can help me. I am considering de-beaking him. It seems like the best option for him right now. Obviously the will to live is there because he has survived all this time so I'm not going to give up on him. To him, his deformities are normal and he has learned to live with them. While he is behind on development (smaller comb, no sex hormones, etc), compared to other chickens his age, and he cannot crow (not a bad thing at all!), his weight is good (his crop is always full) and he is very social and active. I give him a small dish pan full of food (chick starter) and a deep water bowl. His favorite place is in the scratch bin lol. He jumps in there every morning to scoop as much as he can. He goes outside when the weather is nice but is mostly content to live in my garage with a few other special need chickens.

Here are a couple photos of him

 

[mypicklebird]

I wasn't condoning commercial debeaking (I find it very distasteful, as well as most of the other standard practices in commercial poultry houses), just comparing the the beak length- as most people have seen at some point a commercially debeaked hen. They can eat, but need deeper troughs- and do need to learn. They can in general eat much better than a bird with a bad cross beak. IMO options for a severe cross beak--- 1) debeak and it can live a fairly normal life- but should be monitored to make sure it can eat (like pick it up and assess weight weekly and check the crop at night to make sure it is full). 2) Be a chicken servant- hand feed multiple times a day, dremmel a couple of times a month, experiment with food texture and deepness, knowing that the problem will gradually worsen and the lower beak TM joints are getting arthritis 3) Cull

Most of the severely cross beaked birds I have heard about eventually starve as the owners do not have the time to devote to feeding them. The story goes as such: bird Z was always smaller than the other, but he/she had spunk and spirit and was always at the food bowl, I didn't have the heart to cull him/her as they looked like they were doing ok. Then the bird dies, and the person is sad. What happens is the bird is always at the food bowl trying to eat, but only gets a small amount, doesn't grow normally and eventually dies- spending most of it's short life constantly hungry with food in front of it. The rare bird with cross beak that does well to adult hood is the exception, not the standard. Again, I know there are plenty of people out there with living adult birds with cross beak- but MOST starve, or are culled.

This is harsh, but I truly think that any of the above 3 options are appropriate- depending on what kind of time one has to devote to each individual bird. Option 1 & 3 are the easiest on the owner long term. Option 2 is what many pick, but end up with a stunted skinny bird- that doesn't do well long term- if it makes it to adult hood.

I had a cross beak that was debeaked at about 2 months. It was stunted from it's first 8 weeks of life when it was struggling, but it did ok after the debeaking- I wish I could say I still have him- but he turned into a rooster- and I didn't want his genes passed on- as I did not know whether the cross beak was genetic or trauma. I don't regret having debeaked him (under anesthesia, and he got pain meds afterwards)- as he didn't need help any more to eat- which was the goal.




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[Primeacres]

Wow, so many cross beaks in chickens, I personally had no idea it was that bad.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I loved your story zoomummzy, what a great thing you do!

 

[ZooMummzy]

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Thank you

I just do what I can. I have 4 special birds right now (have lost just as many over the past 3 years of doing this), 2 of them cross beaks, one spraddle leg and one with a neurological problem. All 3 of the hens lay eggs consistently and I have the quietest rooster around, lol. Not everyone has the time to devote to such birds (I probably shouldn't) but they are worth it to me.