I have a chick with a crooked beak...

[rebecca10782]

It was straight when they first came, they are two weeks now. I am just wondering if this is common? I don't mind but I am worried it might get worse.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Is it like a cross beak, where the top goes in one direction and the bottom in another? If so, i've heard that this can get worse over time. It's not fatal, but think it's a genetic flaw. You would not want to breed the bird. But it will do fine as long as the food containers are such that it can still eat if it gets really crossed. You can search for "cross beak" or crossed beak" on this site and probably find more information.

 

[rebecca10782]

No it's definitley not crossed. It's just crooked

 

[Momo]

I have a crooked one, too - 3 weeks old and his face & beak are slewed off to the right, slowly getting worse. It wasn't noticeable for the first week or so. It's not a scissor beak because the lower beak still fits into the upper beak, but the beak is open along the sides; the top and bottom beaks only fully connect at the end. I have the feeling that I am going to have cull this chick...

 

[shareneh]

I have a chicken like this. At about 16 weeks her beak got so curved that she couldn't eat. My DH and BIL sawed the beak off at the tip and now she can eat feed again. She can't pick grass or insects but she is happy and healthy, slimmer than the others but ok. Just see how it goes. If you have the time to take care of her then I say it's worth it. She will love you more than the others for caring for her. Make sure there is a feeder that you can put loose feed into though because your chicken will have to scoop her food out and not peck it. I have a special bowl just for my chicken. Good luck.

 

[rebecca10782]

Thanks everyone, hopefully it won't get to much worse. Her top and bottom beak line uup perfectly now. I will see how it goes.

 

[pbjmaker]

I have a bird like this. She is 11 weeks old and we just really started noticing it a couple of weeks ago. Her beak meets up perfectly all the way down - it just curves slightly to the right. Doesn't seem to affect her in any way but I am watching to see if it gets worse as she matures.

 

[carress]

Sounds like she needs braces