Scissor Beak Polish

[Nikkistar13]

I’m a first time chicken mom. Breast cancer survivor. Vegetarian. Raising chicks his companions. My one month old Polish is developing scissor beak. I’m feeding her mush, making sure she’s eating, putting electrolytes in the water, making sure others don’t pick on her, giving her bowls of water, etc.
I am worried about her. Anyone have experience with this?

 

[RubelliteRose]

Welcome to BYC! and I'm so sorry that this is the topic that brought you here. There are several people here who have successfully raised scissor beak chickens. If you search the site for scissor beak or cross beak, a lot of very good threads will come up. I am unfortunately, not one of them.
Depending upon how scissored her beak becomes will depend upon how much care she will need. She will need deeper food and water bowls as she will need to scoop her food vs pecking at it. Eventually, she may need to be tube fed if her beak crossing becomes more severe. Make sure you weigh her and keep a log to see if she is getting enough to eat. Also, make sure to check her regularly for mites and lice as she may have trouble preening herself.
I would read as much as you can about scissor beak from as many threads as you can. Scissor beak chickens can be the sweetest you have, but they can also be very labor intensive. We chose not to keep our boy for a variety of reasons and it was VERY hard. In the end, it was the best choice for our boy and our flock. If he had been female, our decision may have been different.
As a side note, if she came from a hatchery, you might want to send some pictures and let them know that she developed scissor beak, so they can be aware of its presence in their chicks.

 

[Nikkistar13]

Welcome to BYC! and I'm so sorry that this is the topic that brought you here. There are several people here who have successfully raised scissor beak chickens. If you search the site for scissor beak or cross beak, a lot of very good threads will come up. I am unfortunately, not one of them.
Depending upon how scissored her beak becomes will depend upon how much care she will need. She will need deeper food and water bowls as she will need to scoop her food vs pecking at it. Eventually, she may need to be tube fed if her beak crossing becomes more severe. Make sure you weigh her and keep a log to see if she is getting enough to eat. Also, make sure to check her regularly for mites and lice as she may have trouble preening herself.
I would read as much as you can about scissor beak from as many threads as you can. Scissor beak chickens can be the sweetest you have, but they can also be very labor intensive. We chose not to keep our boy for a variety of reasons and it was VERY hard. In the end, it was the best choice for our boy and our flock. If he had been female, our decision may have been different.
As a side note, if she came from a hatchery, you might want to send some pictures and let them know that she developed scissor beak, so they can be aware of its presence in their chicks.

Thank you. I have seen quite a few of the posts here regarding scissor beak are from this season. We got ours at Tractor Supply Co in Loveland, CO and I’m wondering if their hatchery has something going on. I reported it to the clerk, but he seemed disinterested, so I should contact the manager so they can report it, too. I am not prepared to cull- so we’ll see what this adventure brings. Thank you for your prompt response.