gothicpicasso
Songster
Are they often thin too? She’s just thinner than anyone else. I see her eat but she never seems to get a very full crop, not like all the other hens that make pigs of themselves. I’ll try to trim her beak. She’s not gonna like that she doesn’t want me to mess with it. I’ll also try to pay attention to her spine tomorrow. I do think her wings are slightly uneven. Anything that would be easy to eat and help given good nutrition? I often give her time away from everyone but her hatch mates to eat and drink without the possibility of someone preventing her. And thanks for the reply!That doesn't look too bad, it probably won't get bad enough to effect her too much as long as it is trimmed. I'd definitely give the top portion a trim to help her out though. When I have little ones who's beaks get a little overgrown I just use some human nail clippers and have my husband help hold them while I clip off the excess. It's really easy, usually just takes a few clips (one across and then a couple to round off the edges).
I've had several with beaks like that. They've done just fine, I do keep a closer eye on them compared to the rest to make sure the beak doesn't become overgrown though. Unfortunately those slightly crooked beaks seem to be an issue that crops up with silkies sometimes in my experience. Cross beaks happen too but luckily less often (since that really can affect how well they eat a lot more).
Given how you describe her gate I'm wondering if she may have a more severe case of wry tail (it is scoliosis in chickens). I've also noticed that pops up sometimes unfortunately. In mild cases the tail will just be slightly askew but in more severe cases the whole spine is affected and will affect their gate. They don't get around as well and have an uneven gate, you can feel their spine is curved oddly and they may have a sort of hump to it as well. I've also noticed my girls with this condition won't start laying until several months after all their normal siblings have. Thankfully so far I've never had problems with these girls being able to lay when they do eventually start (something I was worried their bodies wouldn't handle well).
Aww they are beautiful little guys!
I bet they are almost at an age where if you get some close ups of the combs and the side of the crest (to show presence or absence of streamers) you'd probably get some pretty decent guesses on what sex they might be.