New Chicken Owner - cross beak

[Cardboard]

Hello! New to the site and semi new to chickens, this little one has some severe cross beak. She is eating and drinking well. Any tips or advice? Things I should keep in mind or look out for? What her to thrive as much as possible

 

[Lillith37]

I haven’t had to deal with this yet but I know it’s important to have a deeper food and water dishes for them to scoop it up a little easier. Maybe you can file down the edges of the beak because she may have trouble managing it herself but someone else should be able to give you better advice.

 

[Mrs. K]

It will get worse with time. As the beak grows it tends to get much worse. In the beginning in my experience, they can keep up. But as their body grows, and the beak grows and gets worse, they have a harder and harder time getting enough food into them to support life.

I watch very careful for them and try and avoid them. They really do not have much possibility in a flock. When my first one died, she had been active the day before, but I was appalled at how thin she really was. Feather cover a lot of sins.

I wish I could be more optimistic. I have had two, and should of culled them quickly.

But I do not have the time or means to care for a bird like this, it will need to be intensive.

Mrs K

 

[145chuckens]

I've heard about this but never actually seen what it was. How does it happen? Sorry you/she ( the chick ) have to deal with that.

 

[WhiteCollarWeezy]

I have a hen named crook...she was not hatched with this "defect' and I know because i hatched her in a incubator and I pay attention. All chicks are too cute and one with a "defect" would be special and kept separate from the rest of the flock and sheltered. I released her and her hatch mates to free range and a few months later i noticed this hen that had a crooked smile.. At the time i had too many roosters. so mean to the hens. I assume that is what happened to her. Greedy boys or she fell from the roost and somehow dislocated her beak. she eats she drinks shes happy. sometimes when my husband comes home and grabs a sack to feed she will fly into his arms and he will have to shake her out of the bag. shes special, surviving, and free ranging.

 

[WhiteCollarWeezy]

I have a hen named crook...she was not hatched with this "defect' and I know because i hatched her in a incubator and I pay attention. All chicks are too cute and one with a "defect" would be special and kept separate from the rest of the flock and sheltered. I released her and her hatch mates to free range and a few months later i noticed this hen that had a crooked smile.. At the time i had too many roosters. so mean to the hens. I assume that is what happened to her. Greedy boys or she fell from the roost and somehow dislocated her beak. she eats she drinks shes happy. sometimes when my husband comes home and grabs a sack to feed she will fly into his arms and he will have to shake her out of the bag. shes special, surviving, and free ranging.

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome!
Your chick is already severely affected, and usually these birds do get worse over time. Like @Mrs. K , I've had a very few of these, and haven't invested the extra care that these birds require. At least, deep food dishes, with mash or crumbles, not pellets, and a deeper water dish. Preferably extra feeders and waterers, so there's no competition, because it takes longer to eat always. These birds can't pick anything off the ground, normal chicken behavior, so they don't benefit from hunting goodies outside, or managing 'normal' treats. If a pullet survives, egg laying is a big metabolic challenge for her, again, her ability to eat enough is an issue.
There are threads here about managing these birds, do look them up. You might decide to put in the extra effort, or humanely euthanize, better than watching her starve.
Mary