Pullet with primary cleft palate?

[estager]

At the end of April I purchased 15 female Australorp from Murray McMurray to add to my existing flock of 16. All of the chicks survived the trip to my house, they all eat and drink and poop and preen. We tend not to pay a ton of attention to the individuals in the flock, mostly we just make sure bedding is changed and food/water is full. They are getting big now, big enough that I let them out to roam today for the first time, and I was snapping a few photos when I realized...



One is entirely missing her top beak! She's three months old, like the rest, and she's healthy and the same size as her sister chooks.. but she has no top beak. It's not an injury, it looks as if she was just.. born that way?

Google says it is likely a primary cleft palate, but the results are almost exclusively scientific research papers.

Has anyone experienced this before? Did the chicken survive? This gal seems to be doing just fine, she even learned how to operate a nipple watering system the first day we put it in. Should I just let her be? Or will this give her a poor quality of life? We're not "pet" chicken people, so I'd rather cull her than let her live a miserable life.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

If she looks healthey, especially to the point where she's the same size as her siblings, I say let it continue. She may at some point become slightly amaller, but sounds like everything is okay so far

 

[Eggcessive]

I would think that she has injured and lost the upper beak at some point. I doubt that the hatchery would have sent you a chick that had a birth defect of a missing top beak. It is a wonder that she has been able to eat and drink. What kind of waterers are you using? Have you observed her eating and drinking? What type of chicken feed are you using? Feeding from a higher sided bowl, trying wet chicken feed, and nipple waterers are some of the things that may be helpful.