- Feb 18, 2009
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My gosling has this I've noticed with his beak. He eats fine and its not crooked if you look straight down on it...only if you look straight at it, the top portion is swayed a bit. Here are some pics. If you notice on the round tip and draw an imaginary line up to his head, you'll see what I mean. I see pics of scissors beak but since chickens have such a thin beak, it might look different...th beak meets fine, as you can tell...its almost like if someone were glueing on the top beak, they just set it a bit crooked.
I noticed it a few weeks ago...he had been sick and almost dying...I changed his food and he started getting better and the next day I treated him for coccidiosis just in case because I was getting two new gosling in a few days. (even though there was no bloody stool, the symptoms of being drunk etc made the vet think that it was coccidiosis---over the phone) At this point there was nothign wrong with the beak and I only noticed it about a week after that incident. I had to pry his beak open quite a bit to give him sugar water during that night he was about to die...I might have pried too hard...or nutritional deficiency? I am in denial and don't want to think its genetic because I really wanted to keep him, he has a wonderful personality. I think from spending all effort to save him made him more attached to me....so I really wanted to use him for my breeding(I only have 3...not big breeding just hobby) and there is no use for me to have 2 boys(one him, and the other for breeding) and one girl.
here is a website that has some info... http://www.avianweb.com/scissorsbeak.html
anyone else have any suggestions ?? can I fix it? Its not too bad but mostly I just want to rule out genetics so that I can keep him and use him as my breeding male.
PICS:
I found info on this website that said this:
Beak Deformities
* Scissors / Crooked Beak
* Nutritional Deficiencies: Many beak deformities are caused by simple nutritional deficiencies. The most common are methionine, sulpha, biotin (a vitamin) and calcium. Without enough of these the beak material doesn't form properly and tends to bend rather than wear properly. All of these are common deficiencies in the typical diets fed to cage and aviary birds around the world. The problem is easily solved by supplementing with Daily Essentials3 and CalciBoost. Remember that the 'new' beak material will take 9-12 months to reach the 'wearing zone' so some beak trimming may be required in the meantime.
* Liver Damage: Another possible cause is liver damage. Again the beak becomes too soft to wear properly. Unfortunately the liver does not repair itself well so this is harder to solve. However ,we can reduce the amount of work the liver has to do and this is often more than enough for the symptom to go away completely. Methionine is again important as is another amino acid - lysine. Again Daily Essentials3 and CalciBoost should sort it out though even more of these amino acids will be supplied if Gold Label Feast (a soft food) can make up 25% or more of the diet. Your avian vet will be able to assess the bird's liver performance with simple blood tests. Remember that the 'new' beak material will take 9-12 months to reach the 'wearing zone' so some beak trimming may be required in the meantime. - Malcolm Green, Director, The Birdcare Company - [email protected] ...Online ordering worldwide: http://www.birdcareco.com
* Exposure to toxic chemicals has been shown to cause beak deformities in several species of birds. The second possible cause of beak deformities, mutation of a critical developmental gene, also has some support in the scientific literature. Changes such as albinism and reduced beak height occurred more commonly in Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica) near the radioactively contaminated Chernobyl reactor (Muller and Mousseau 2001).
* Injuries / Infections: Finally, it is clear that injuries or infections can profoundly influence beak development. Gartrell et al. (2003) reported that a bacterial sinus infection was the cause of a beak deformity in an Antipodes Island Parakeet (Cyanoramphus unicolor) chick.
* Trauma has also been reported as a cause of beak deformities in other caged birds (Flammer and Clubb 1994). Given that normal beak development and growth is dependent upon contact between the tips of the lower and upper beak (mandible and maxilla), it is obvious that injuries to the tip of either the lower or upper beak could result in a beak deformity.
* Incorrect Handfeeding Techniques: Too much pressure of the feeding implement against the chick's beak may result in beak deformities, as does applying too much pressure when wiping the beak.
Some beak deformities in cage birds (e.g. budgerigars) can be cured by trimming the overgrown upper or lower beak to the appropriate length, which restores normal contact zones and thus normal growth of the beak (Boussarie 2002). - Excerpt from (pdf document): Beak Deformity in a Brown-headed Cowbird, with Notes on Causes of Beak Deformities in Birds - David A. Rintoul, Biology Division, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS
I noticed it a few weeks ago...he had been sick and almost dying...I changed his food and he started getting better and the next day I treated him for coccidiosis just in case because I was getting two new gosling in a few days. (even though there was no bloody stool, the symptoms of being drunk etc made the vet think that it was coccidiosis---over the phone) At this point there was nothign wrong with the beak and I only noticed it about a week after that incident. I had to pry his beak open quite a bit to give him sugar water during that night he was about to die...I might have pried too hard...or nutritional deficiency? I am in denial and don't want to think its genetic because I really wanted to keep him, he has a wonderful personality. I think from spending all effort to save him made him more attached to me....so I really wanted to use him for my breeding(I only have 3...not big breeding just hobby) and there is no use for me to have 2 boys(one him, and the other for breeding) and one girl.
here is a website that has some info... http://www.avianweb.com/scissorsbeak.html
anyone else have any suggestions ?? can I fix it? Its not too bad but mostly I just want to rule out genetics so that I can keep him and use him as my breeding male.
PICS:
I found info on this website that said this:
Beak Deformities
* Scissors / Crooked Beak
* Nutritional Deficiencies: Many beak deformities are caused by simple nutritional deficiencies. The most common are methionine, sulpha, biotin (a vitamin) and calcium. Without enough of these the beak material doesn't form properly and tends to bend rather than wear properly. All of these are common deficiencies in the typical diets fed to cage and aviary birds around the world. The problem is easily solved by supplementing with Daily Essentials3 and CalciBoost. Remember that the 'new' beak material will take 9-12 months to reach the 'wearing zone' so some beak trimming may be required in the meantime.
* Liver Damage: Another possible cause is liver damage. Again the beak becomes too soft to wear properly. Unfortunately the liver does not repair itself well so this is harder to solve. However ,we can reduce the amount of work the liver has to do and this is often more than enough for the symptom to go away completely. Methionine is again important as is another amino acid - lysine. Again Daily Essentials3 and CalciBoost should sort it out though even more of these amino acids will be supplied if Gold Label Feast (a soft food) can make up 25% or more of the diet. Your avian vet will be able to assess the bird's liver performance with simple blood tests. Remember that the 'new' beak material will take 9-12 months to reach the 'wearing zone' so some beak trimming may be required in the meantime. - Malcolm Green, Director, The Birdcare Company - [email protected] ...Online ordering worldwide: http://www.birdcareco.com
* Exposure to toxic chemicals has been shown to cause beak deformities in several species of birds. The second possible cause of beak deformities, mutation of a critical developmental gene, also has some support in the scientific literature. Changes such as albinism and reduced beak height occurred more commonly in Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica) near the radioactively contaminated Chernobyl reactor (Muller and Mousseau 2001).
* Injuries / Infections: Finally, it is clear that injuries or infections can profoundly influence beak development. Gartrell et al. (2003) reported that a bacterial sinus infection was the cause of a beak deformity in an Antipodes Island Parakeet (Cyanoramphus unicolor) chick.
* Trauma has also been reported as a cause of beak deformities in other caged birds (Flammer and Clubb 1994). Given that normal beak development and growth is dependent upon contact between the tips of the lower and upper beak (mandible and maxilla), it is obvious that injuries to the tip of either the lower or upper beak could result in a beak deformity.
* Incorrect Handfeeding Techniques: Too much pressure of the feeding implement against the chick's beak may result in beak deformities, as does applying too much pressure when wiping the beak.
Some beak deformities in cage birds (e.g. budgerigars) can be cured by trimming the overgrown upper or lower beak to the appropriate length, which restores normal contact zones and thus normal growth of the beak (Boussarie 2002). - Excerpt from (pdf document): Beak Deformity in a Brown-headed Cowbird, with Notes on Causes of Beak Deformities in Birds - David A. Rintoul, Biology Division, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS
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