Questions about care for a cross beak chicken

[HSGal]

Hello everyone,

I got a 5 week old Silkie last week. The lady I got her from said that a child dropped it and the cross beak was from the injury. My question is what is the best way to feed a cross beak chicken. I add water to the feed and mix it around. She seems to have some difficulty eating and won’t leave the bowl for hours. I know she’s eating but it just has me worried because her twin we got is getting bigger and heavier. Here is a picture of our favorite, Buck Beak.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Unfortunately with crossbeak that severe, it is incredibly unlikely that the bird will ever eat enough feed on its own to survive. You would have to tube feed it multiple times a day to possibly give it enough nutrition to survive long term.

If you decide to keep her going, you'll have to monitor her beak and make sure it doesn't get overgrown, which means filing the beak down as it grows since she will be unlikely to manage the top and bottom on her own

 

[HSGal]

Unfortunately with crossbeak that severe, it is incredibly unlikely that the bird will ever eat enough feed on its own to survive. You would have to tube feed it multiple times a day to possibly give it enough nutrition to survive long term.

If you decide to keep her going, you'll have to monitor her beak and make sure it doesn't get overgrown, which means filing the beak down as it grows since she will be unlikely to manage the top and bottom on her own

Thank you for your response! I give her new food in the morning, late afternoon and before bed. When I give my other chickens watermelon or strawberries. I blend up some and she’ll go to town on that. I just hope she can get enough nutrients.

 

[TwoCrows]

The best option for crossbeaks is tube feeding them. They will end up malnourished and starved trying to eat with their crossed beaks.

Here is a good thread on tube feeding... https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/go-team-tube-feeding-updated-12-29-2019.805728/