Uggo B!**Chick with deformed skull - NOW WITH PICS!**

[Pele]

Bless you for opening your heart to that unfortunate chick. Unfortunately skull deformities like that only worsen as chicks grow, if she cannot eat at just a few days old, she will absolutely not be able to eat when she's older.

Chickens do hide the fact that they are suffering, so I'd watch her closely for the next week or so. If she seems to improve under your care, you can keep fighting for her. But if she remains thin and does not gain the ability to eat on her own, you're not doing her any favors keeping her alive

Chicks require constant food intake to grow and thrive. Unless you have absolutely nothing else in life to do, you can't meet her needs.

A friend of mine has had to cull her chickens and chicks in the past. She says that the most peaceful way to do it is to hold their faces up near the exhaust pipe of a car while it's running. They just fall asleep in a gentle drift.

 

[Redcatcher]

Same deformity:

I partly assisted in hatching this chick and what had happened was that the air cell was mostly on the side of the egg which crowded him and caused his wing to embed itself into the side of his skill. It left a perfect impression. He could drink but couldn't eat so I had to tube feed him his entire life. I decided it was time for him to go when his legs could no longer support his body. He lived almost a year. He was a Madagascar cockerel and these eggs had traveled around the world to get here. It was pretty hard to let go.

 

[Nimby Chickens]

Quote:
Wow, bless you for keeping him alive that long! Poor little guy. In the video he looked like you were his best buddy!!!

Uggli, as I have decided to call her, seems to be doing pretty well. Her legs are not deformed like the Madagascar, she is completely normal in every other way- it's just her skull that is weird.

Some good news, yesterday when I fed her in the morning, she ate pretty well, and then I left for work. When I came home and went to feed her, her crop was pretty full- she ate by herself! I was gone all day so she must have. I have her eating gamebird starter for extra nutrition and polyvisol without iron. Besides being loud when she can't see the others she seems normal and she's gained a little.

I'm going to wait and see. I'm keeping an eye on her weight. If she goes down, I will carefully monitor her mass and if she does not gain even with my assistance I will do the right thing and have her euthanized.

She is a sweet little thing and everyone here is rooting for her.

One last thing, if this is a skull deformity and not a case of crossbeak, is there any reason to think that it will not get worse? Are the two always hand in hand?

 

[ReikiStar]

A cross beak IS a deformity of the skull (the beak is otherwise fine, it's when the skull is misshapen that the beak grows in an irregular way). As the chicken grows...so does the deformity. Usually if the deformity isn't even noticeable until the chick is older, there is a good chance once they reach maturity that the deformity is something they can live with. But when it happens so young, it will get even worse as she grows...putting pressure on the brain, she could lose sight in her other eye and of course losing the ability to feed herself altogether because the beaks don't help her eat...they hinder her ability to pick up food.

Would love to see this little one make it. Nice that Redcatcher could give you some hope. Maybe understanding your time with her might be shorter is ok with you. Good luck to the both of you.

 

[SebrightLuver]

I would cull, you won't be doing her any good by keeping her alive. She will suffer

 

[Daisy668]

I would give her a chance.. Don't cull her! Wait and if ,as she grows it gets worse and worse, she starts to struggle then would be the time to cull her.
Good luck to you and your chick!
Daisy, xx

 

[SebrightLuver]

A cross beak chick like that is only going to get worse with age, you'll only be prolonging her suffering to let her live.

 

[Daisy668]

If she can eat still i would give her a chance

Daisy. xx

 

[SebrightLuver]

I doubt she can with a beak like that

 

[janinepeters]

I would put her down. It is wonderful that you care enough to give her a chance, but there are so many other domesticated animals in the world who are healthy and could have wonderful, fulfilling lives if someone would give them a good home. I would devote my time and energy to one of them. Shelters are full of them.