I need advice on my scissor beak chicken!!

[Ducklover17191]

Hi I have an almost 8 week old silkie with bad scissor beak. He is much smaller than our other silkies but he seems to be pretty healthy. He almost seems more energetic than the other chickens too. He flies on the top of the brooder the instant I open it and he is over all just very healthy acting. But the problem is he doesn’t seem to be growing as fast as he used to and he seems skinnier too. I have been feeding him his normal food mixed with water to make it into a mush that is easier to eat. He seems to eat just as much as the other chickens too but he is just behind and is growing very slowly. Does anyone know what I can do to help him? I love him and don’t want to eauthanize him unless necessary. I will insert some pictures below. His wet fuzz on his head is from him sticking his head in his food and water dish.

 

[FluffyButtBabies]

Is he drinking alright? I'm surprised he can even hold any water in his mouth. Make sure he doesn't get dehydrated. As to him loosing weight, that could be for a few reasons. The two that come to mind are that scissor beak is a genetic defect. It's possible he might have another defect in how he absorbs nutrients and such. One of my chicks had a similar genetic issue, and had difficulty growing. But she didn't loose weight. So that leads me to the second option: he isn't getting enough food. Not because you aren't feeding them all, but because he isn't able to catch the food in his mouth. You said that it looks like he takes longer to eat. This is probably because he is constantly hungry (he can't get all the food in his mouth, so he tries eating for longer). It's like eating one slice of pizza. You're still hungry, so you go back for another and another. Also, by moving around so actively he is burning more calories than he is eating (loosing weight). Make sure the food is very soft and small enough for him to grab. Another idea is to use a long dish instead of a deep one. That way he can try to scoop the food instead of pick at it. Make sure there are a lot of vitamins in the feed, too. I'm not really an expert at this, so they're just ideas, but good luck!

 

[Eggcessive]

This type of defect can get worse as the chicken grows, but many can lead a fairly normal life. Feeding crumbles, wet chicken feed, and using a tall sided bowl can be helpful. I have read that using a nipple waterer at least as one of the drinkers, can be easier for cross beak chickens to drink. Occasionally trimming or filing the beak to align it more can be helpful. Having a large rock for them to hone their beaks on when they wipe off feed might be a good idea. Here is some reading :
https://the-chicken-chick.com/scissor-beak-aka-crossed-beak-what-it/