I am definitely not more experienced than you are with cross beak. I appreciate everything you have already learned and especially that you have shared it. The videos were great.
So far my girl seems to be feeding herself fine. I had noticed she was smaller than her siblings, but I do get some size range in my flock, so hadn’t really paid much attention to her eating.
So here’s my question... I had assumed that cross beaks were genetic. But with as many as I have hatched from this group of birds, I do have varied genetics, but not having another like this, I have to wonder if maybe it is an incubation issue instead of genetics. Have you looked into what causes it?
(The other slight cross beak I mentioned was a serama cockerel. The pullet is a bantam cochin. No possible relation. And I’ve never had any other seramas with it. I have had overgrown beaks that required minimal trimming, but not crossed)
I'm going to say that this baby had a double whammy: genetics and a problem in the incubation. Here's why:
One of my babies, Brownie, was horribly malpositioned (see original thread
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/help-humidity-all-wrong.1250863/page-10 ) and it may have been a pink egg that I thought was brown. I think it's highly likely that it was this Ameraucana/Easter Egger that I have with the deformed beak, serious heart murmur (even my untrained ear can hear the squishiness of her heartbeat). If it was her, she was born upside down relative to her air cell and with her head under the WRONG wing! I see no signs of anybody else in the group having any issues whatsoever, so I suspect this is that baby.
But being mostly Ameraucana, I suspect genetics, too. Ameraucanas are much more likely to have crossed (or scissor) beaks than most other common breeds.
Like you, I see people blaming both: genetics and incubation errors. I think they're both potential causes. For the sake of safety, however, I would say that a bird with significant amounts of Ameraucana in its lineage should be assumed to have genetic problems. Listen for heartbeat, watch for potential kidney or heart malfunctions, etc. If you have even one other issue that you can identify, consider the bird to be a genetic dead end and don't pass those genes along.
If you don't find any other health concerns--no heart or breathing problems, no sign of any other organ issues or bone deformities--then it's a judgment call. To be safe, I probably would err on the side of not passing on genetics, but if it's a boy that everyone loves, I don't know.
Unfortunately, Little Miss Crossbeak is growing some really long, pointy neck feathers that suggest that we may not have a MISS here but perhaps a MISTER. I don't know what we'll do if it's a he. I don't want this chicken's genetics passed along, but how do you have a roo with a good quality of life and ensure no passage of genetic material within a large flock? This may be our $1,000,000 question in the near future...
Oddly, he/she/it is not picked on by the sisters, brothers, and 8 Buff Orpingtons that I have in the run together. (I'll go with "she" for my signal to the Universe that I hope it's not a roo!!...) I go grab her, she runs right up to me, I put her back, and the other chicks check her out but do not pick on her. I imagine she can still peck pretty strongly forward with that top beak to protect herself.
