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Same here...I only have gotten one crossbeak and I do recall a newly hatched chick just pecking away inside the incubator...I really can't say for sure it was this one or not but it sure seems it is the trauma to the beak early in life.
Looking at the pics of the two with cross beak you can see the beak itself is a bit twisted. With the girl I have the beak is entirely normal looking but when trimming is needed just does not quite meet. If I trim her just right I have trouble finding her again. Its like right at the hinge of her jaw it doesn't quite align. That might be the difference between genetic and injury, a normal beak that doesn't align and one where the beak itself is twisted.
To answer all the questions on crossed beaks, Hutt, in
Genetics of the Fowl discusses genetic issues in the chapter on skeletal abnormalities.
http://chla.library.cornell.edu/cgi...node=2837819:5&frm=frameset&view=image&seq=60
If you google "crossed beak" or "twisted beak" or "tweaked beak" or "scissor beak" you will find some references to parrots and other birds, and a wider range of information.
By mash, I mean very finely ground feed: almost powdery. In general, processed feed comes in mash, crumbles or pellets. The year I used mash was the year I had a number of cross beaked babies. Stopped using mash and have had very few since then. Regardless of whether I believe it to be genetic or not, I would not breed a cross beaked bird.
I have had a couple of adult birds whose beaks started curving toward the side (both upper and lower and staying aligned with each other). I believe this was either improper trimming or something impacting the inner edges of the beak. And I currently have one whose beak seems to be slightly offset at the jaw. Neither beak curves or twists, but they do not line up.
Whenever I bathe a bird or otherwise groom it, I open and check inside the mouth, and occasionally need to clean out along the beak edges with a toothpick.
