Need Help ASAP Cross Beak Chick

[teebo]

i noticed last night one of my silkie chicks beak is alittle crossed,can i put a rubber band on it for 8 hrs a day,will it go back to normal,its beak was perfect last week and now its going crossed????????? heres a pic

 

[pips&peeps]

No. It's a defect, you will find that it will continue to worsen. Some people will spend lots of time filing and keep a special pan of food so these birds can eat, but it is up to you what you want to do with the birds.

I personally would cull.

 

[Marfamary]

I had two cross-beak chicks, Americanas. One had to be culled as it could eat nothing and the other is going to be culled this week. They have a difficult time eating but they can't preen their feathers and seem to be much more vulnerable to ecto-parasites. This poor bird is absolutely covered with poultry lice, worse than I have ever seen. If the beak isn't too bad it can survive but quality of life will be compromised.

 

[ChooksChick]

I have a lovely roo that has been hand raised- and hand fed.

We love him too dearly to give up now, but had I known he would need to be hand fed three+ times daily I wouldn't have brought him up.

He's a gentleman and the most docile lap-dog of a bird, charming and brilliant, with a very complex clear set of verbal signals- far more than the girls. Still, how do you go on vacation, or even spend more than a few hours somewhere??

He did feed himself for a long time, and then the lower beak got to where it was preventing him from scooping up food. It's not a situation that's workable now.

We love him, but it isn't something that will be an easy decision once you determine how difficult it really is, if you get attached and these are your pets.

I do have to say- there are others on here who have cross-beaks that can eat on their own with a deep cup or bowl for their food...but there's no way to know how yours will develop.

This is The Professor.

He's only a couple of months old in these shots, before we had to start trimming the lower beak.

 

[teebo]

i dont have the heart to kill it.i have it up for adoption on craigslist.

 

[lurky]

I love my crossbeak hen. She is everyones favorite. She is the fattest hen i have

I think you should keep yours. They say in some cases it can be caused from a vitamin deficiency so maybe you can get some in her water. But otherwise they are not a big deal to keep.

 

[robin416]

Yes, they can be a big deal to keep. It depends on how bad the jaw and face twists. Many become extremely bad. Vigilance has to be paid to the beak and whether it needs to be trimmed to allow the bird to drink. Some will twist out of alignment so bad eating and drinking are not possible.

The second problem with this deformity is that it appears to be genetically linked. It is not completely understood what causes it but so far studies are pointing to a gene.

If you breed the bird to a bird that is not carrying the gene then chances are very high it will not repeat in the next generation. If you breed the affected bird to another carrying the gene then the incidence goes up tremendously.

That's where it becomes a problem, you can't see genes so you don't know if it will repeat in the chicks until you breed them. It also creates a problem for other breeders who do not want this to appear in their flocks.

 

[teebo]

i think i found a good home for her.thanks all

 

[ChooksChick]

That's awesome!

 

[JBD]

I have a cross beaked ameraucana chick about 5 weeks old. She started out with only a slight cross but since her top and bottom beak is not in alignment, the top is growing longer and hooked. So far, she is eating and drinking without a problem but I am worried about the excessive growth. I have heard of having birds beaks trimmed but who does that and how often? I would hate to have to euthanize this chick as she is the friendliest one I have. When she sees me she runs over to be petted and picked up and none of my others are that friendly yet.
Has anyone had experience with this and what is there to do? Is it likely to keep getting worse?
JBD