Urgent-Americauna Beak Issue - Please help!

[CrazySally]

:| I have an Americauna pullet about weeks old. She's not as large as she should be. I noticed that the top portion of her beak was really "hooked". But I think the problem is the bottom beak. It's alot shorter and straight, not a comparable length or fitted to the top beak like a normal beak.....like the rest of the chicks.

Any suggestions on what I can do? I did try filing a little bit of the hook off with a dremel tool---very carefully. I waited another day or so and tried to do a little bit more, but this time I got a tiny speck of blood so I stopped. I cleaned and dried it so the other chicks wouldn't notice and put her back without any problems. I'm just worried she's not getting enough to eat. She seems alright, but I think it's work for her to get her stomach full.

A friend suggested feeding her with a mash made up of the chick feed, but then another friend said don't because it could go down into her lungs. What if I did it very carefully, like, use an eye dropper and let her swallow it on her own????? I just don't know what to do.

Has anyone else ever seen this in this breed or with any of your other chicks? I don't want her to starve. I bought chicks for eggs and as pets. I'm not into the "meat" or culling aspect of it.

I would appreciate any suggestions......

 

[BlueMoon]

I have one rooster who has a horribly crossed beak.

We have to hold him and cut into the quick, both upper and lower beaks, drastically reshaping his beak. To stop the bleeding, we have to score the cut, usually by placing a red hot piece of metal against his beak. This slows the growth enough so he can eat for another nine months.

He is one of my favorite roosters and I loathe doing this to him, but it's what keeps him gong. We were just clipping the beak back, but that was becoming a biweekly chore.

I would imagine the big issue is does the beak interfere with eating? Good luck! And next time we have to do this, we'll give him aspirin first and after, even though that could increase bleeding.

 

[farm_mom]

If you do a cross beak search here, you'll find lots of posts and methods people use to care for these kinds of birds. Good Luck!

 

[CrazySally]

To those of you who were nice enough to respond to my request for help regarding my Americauna's beak, thank you!

However, this is NOT a cross beak issue.

Her bottom beak is not growing correctly. It is much shorter than the top beak. Both top and bottom are in line with each other.

So, if anyone out there has any recommendations I would appreciate it.

 

[Wynette]

Is her tongue intact and "working?" I would think she should be able to get food into her mouth by using her tongue to scoop it up - but you might try using a deep bowl-type feeder rather than a traditional one. This way, she could shovel in & get a bigger mouthful.

 

[CrazySally]

Yes, her tongue does seem to be working fine. My first post was supposed to mention that she's about 5 weeks old now.

She seemed to be active and ok, but I've noticed the last few days that she's been sleeping more......with her head tucked under one wing. I don't know if that's an indication that she's slowly going "downhill" or not. I'd like to give her some chick mash, but how do I do that? I tried to set a cup mounded with food in the chick box where they are, at head level for her, hoping it would be easier for her to scoop the food, but she ended up just climbing on top of the cup & food.

Monday I tried to take a little more off of her upper beak, but it started to bleed so I don't think I can do anymore with that. Because her bottom beak is so much shorter, the curve at the end of the top beak gets in the way of her being able to grasp the crumbles like a normal chicken would do.

I'm not sure that if she survives and continues to grow, will her bottom beak eventually grow? Are they like fingernails?

Thanks for any help!