S.O.S. Crossbeaked Silkie Chick

[traceygirl07]

This 4 week old Silkie Chick started out with a slight scissored beak but since she has gotten bigger the beak has become worse. She is still eating and drinking fine by scooping up everything. Thus her name “Little Scoop.”
I need to know if this needs to be treated by a vet . I feel so bad for her and am worried that this could present a bigger problem later. Please help!!

 

[Pyxis]

Unfortunately there's really nothing a vet can do about this. It might be able to be fixed with an expensive surgery, but that's it really.

It could end up preventing her from eating. For now, keep really deep bowls of feed and water out for her to make it easier for her to eat. If it gets bad enough that she can no longer eat on her own, you'll have to decide if you want to either tube feed her for the rest of her life, or put her down.

 

[artsyrobin]

Are you on facebook? I run a crossbeak group there, lots of good info and support for varying degrees of severity, we have medical professionals on the admin team for help. Surgery is seldom successful and ends in the death of the bird due to reaction to anesthesia. Crossbeak is actually a skull deformity - my oldest was 5 years, a member there just lost theirs at 9, they have various extremes and it is never a cull issue. They can be worked with. Some breeds have a tendancy to crossbeak. If you aren't able to work with him, someone on the group may adopt him. I sent you a pm. This is Gnger, she is now 4 and feeds herself. Deep dishes - in her case she is head hen. Occasional trimming, wet mash or pellets work with her. Here is the crossbeak group.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/587948771309216/

 

[lilmillefleur]

I had a crossbeak polish chick but it never learned how to eat properly and did not scoop, I felt so bad for it because it couldn't eat the cracked corn from my hand or peck in the dirt, it was always distress cheeping and was half the size of the other polish... Unfortunately it died the day before the scheduled euthanasia date.
It was awful but once I heard it had died, I felt so relieved. I honestly wanted it to die because it was so miserable in life, and we did not have the time nor wanted to put in the effort of making sure this chick led a decent life.
Obviously they can live a good quality of life, if they can eat (scooping). The reason why mine didn't make it was because it did not scoop but tried to peck like the others. Yours can scoop, so I think if you can provide it with a little extra care, it will do well.