week old chick developing cross beak

[ALong12]

I have a little over a week old super blue chick that is developing cross beak & I can tell it’s getting worse each day... any way to correct this since it’s so young?

 

[llombardo]

Do you remember how it started? I was just watching one of mine and it seems like it keeps it's beak slightly open--it seems like the top part is not long enough to go over the bottom part. I will observe her more. She is eating and drinking, but is small compared to the others and sleeps slightly more--not a lot but I noticed it.

Will be following, because this is the first thing I thought of when I was watching her. I am fermenting some feed hoping it's easier for her to eat if she is having a problem(I see her eating but not sure that she is digesting it of its falling out)

 

[ALong12]

mines beak size is normal, eating & drinking fine right now seems fine & healthy like the others
It’s just started going out sideways a little more each day... just wanting to know if I can correct it while still a chick

 

[ALong12]

Do you remember how it started? I was just watching one of mine and it seems like it keeps it's beak slightly open--it seems like the top part is not long enough to go over the bottom part. I will observe her more. She is eating and drinking, but is small compared to the others and sleeps slightly more--not a lot but I noticed it.

Will be following, because this is the first thing I thought of when I was watching her. I am fermenting some feed hoping it's easier for her to eat if she is having a problem(I see her eating but not sure that she is digesting it of its falling out)

I read on another forum, i guess i put this on the wrong one
but a lady used tape to realign one of her chicks beaks left it on for 12-24 hours with success but it later died due to other underlying issues & it was blind as well
mine seem healthy as the other like i said, so i just had my husband help me tape mine into to correct position **making sure not to cover the nostrils
hope i have a success story

 

[llombardo]

How does it eat?

 

[Momto4nmore]

I will offer our sad experience. We had a lovely d'uccle bought day old with some siblings. Pidgey started cross beak development at 3 days old, very slight but noticeable. To make long story shorter, we chose to attempt to save. By week 3 we were having to syringe feed, several times a day to fill crop. He was not growing in size well. My daughter kept meticulous notes of daily weight. Pidgey otherwise was happy and friendly so we couldn't make that hard decision. By week 7, he was losing weight and half size, this was after syringe feeding specialized watered mash. It was heartbreaking and we cried all day after we finally culled Pidgey. Hard hard leason.
Basically my research said if within 1 week of birth crossbeak develops it is either genetic or the chick's head was not in proper position at pip time. But it will progress. It cannot be cured(again only if showing up in first week of life). It can be managed and some can go on happily with specialized future care as Instagram shows alot.
I still mourn Pidgey. It wasnt our first chick cull but we really attached to him I'm usually super positive person but this is just what happened to us. Sorry.

 

[llombardo]

I follow a roister rescue and they have one that is severely cross beaked. He is almost a year old and doing well. So there are times when it works out ok.

Sorry for your loss of Pidgey.

 

[Momto4nmore]

I follow a roister rescue and they have one that is severely cross beaked. He is almost a year old and doing well. So there are times when it works out ok.

Sorry for your loss of Pidgey.

Thank you and yes, i found many online who have been able to continue care. Maintaining weight with proper specialized nutrition and periodic beak trimming, online youtube showed how, does help. So i always say a little silent prayer for others who mention their cross beaks and hope theirs will make it!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Don't know if it can be corrected but some chickens can do well with careful management. Really depends how severe it is and if there's other issues (i.e. skull deformities, blindness, etc).

I currently have one cross beaked bird though hers is pretty mild, at a glance it looks like the top and bottom beaks are misaligned though the skull looks slightly off as well. I trim her beak every few weeks using dog nail clippers and a nail file and watch how she eats and drinks to make sure she's not having issues (she had a harder time switching to a horizontal waterer). But she's been my best layer so far this year.

 

[Peppercorngal]

I have not heard that it can be corrected. A long life depends on the chicken. I had a beautiful Colombian Wyandotte with a cross beak and he did great! I got him as a chick with the other girls I bought. He fed himself, I never helped him or babied him. He was a good rooster, gentle to humans and good to the hens too! A good long life is possible with a cross beak!