To trim/file or not to trim... scissor beak

[jenn-]

We've had this lady for a couple of weeks now (she's approximately 12 wks old). She was named Hawkeye because we noticed the hook on her beak when we first got her, but she wasn't crossed at that point. The hook is still growing and now her beak is obviously crossed. Would you attempt to shorten the hook part in an attempt to keep it from getting worse? (I'm going to upload pictures from my camera in the next post).

 

[jenn-]

 

[emmaie892000]

Is she having any trouble eating or drinking?

 

[jenn-]

Is she having any trouble eating or drinking?

Originally I just thought she was a little piggy because she always had her head in the feeder (I have one of the PVC spill free feeders). Now I know she is probably having a hard time getting the food because of the nature of the feeder is to just let a little bit come down at a time. I've been feeding some mash yesterday and today and she has been thrilled. I actually see her roaming with the other girls now.

My hope was that if I trimmed the hook off a bit, maybe it wouldn't get much worse. She was not crossed when we got her around the 10wk mark when we got her, but her hook was obvious then. Only after the hook continued to grow did the top and bottom stopped lining up.

 

[emmaie892000]

There are some other threads on here with advice about crossed beaks and how to correctly trim them, I would take a look at some of those.