I have a. Scissor beak and is so light what should I do

[red horse ranch]

I've raised hundreds of chicks over the years and I've had several crossbeaks. They are usually the sweetest and easy to handle birds. You just want to love them and save them. But it is not possible. They will slowly starve to death no matter how much you try. I'm sorry to say that the only kind thing to do is to let them go.

 

[Chickengirl2671]

We have had ones that bad that have survived they need a deep food dish and a deep water dish or cup waterer sometimes you have to scrape gunk out of their beak. They have to be able to stick most of their beak into get food and water. And ours lived for years.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

Yes as others have said, that is a Very bad case. I occasionally have scissor-beaked Easter Egger chicks hatch out. By age 3 weeks, the chicks that are too severely cross-beaked to eat normally begin to noticeably lag in size and weight compared to their siblings. At this point i euthanize. (I feel sad even while typing what i just did, because it "isnt fair" an innocent little chick drew the short straw in life.) Unfortunately, the adage "life isnt fair" is very true.

As some have already posted here, yes it is possible to keep your chick alive with a massive effort on your part. You would need to tube'feed it multiple times daily, every single day for the rest of its life. If it were mine, i would say a prayer and humanely end its life. I dont make that statement lightly, because i give ALL my flock members a chance to live out a full normal life, treating them as needed along the way for conditions that can be healed and cured.

The decision is entirely up to you, and you've gotten good informative responses here on both sides of the spectrum.

 

[chickennuggt]

Poor chick (

 

[h2ocutiegirl]

I have one that was bad. You need to massage the muscles and it does work. My girls beak it to the point she can eat on her own. She is blind as well and taught herself "sonar" to find her way around. We had to feed her every hour to two hours and worked with her every day. Keep massaging the beak and keep it clean and trimmed. Hopefully she will be OK. Give us an update when you can please. Thanks