What to do with this sweet heart?

[Calpurnia]

Someone on here said to kill her but she's by far the sweetest chicken I've ever owned. We were just given her ... I've never encountered a cross beaked chicken before. Is it possible she'll be okay like this? I was told she'd be fine by the lady who gave her to us...

 

[Eggcessive]

I've never had a crossbeak chicken before. As long as she can get food and water with her beak, I suppose she can make it. Sometimes mixing their feed with a little water helps them eat better. She probably can't groom herself very well. Make sure she has access to wood ash mixed with some dirt and sand for dust bathing to keep herself free of lice and mites.

 

[Calpurnia]

Just went out there, it's six in the am... I got some food and watched her eat, she ate... was full stopped eating after about ten minutes... I kept the others from coming over and knocking her of it... she ate right in between my feet from a deep trough I found... a juice bottle fashioned into a feed trough that can be deep for her beak. Anyway she ate, got full, fluffed up her feathers contentedly and then I offered her drink and she drank on her own fine too. I think she is okay...

 

[Calpurnia]

Thank you I shall!

 

[Fancychooklady]

Oh, how sad! Your little girls eyes say it all. I hope that someone can give you some meaningful advice. God love her.

 

[Calpurnia]

I've never love another chicken like this one. She's a darling... Lets me pick her up like a cat... she lets me pet her like no other chicken I've ever witnesses! ... She is a very special hen that's for sure. Her eyes are kinda amber too.. at first I though blue.... beautiful eyes! & she will follow me around like a dog...

 

[tastybabies]

If she's made it past chick age with this, she's definately found a way to manage. She's solid. Keep your baby!

 

[Calpurnia]

Thanks, I feel better now after really watching her...I visited with her again just a while ago and she had hopped up IN the feeder and was going to town showing me she could eat fine... she let me pet her too while eating again ... so sweet..

 

[ten chicks]

Someone on here said to kill her but she's by far the sweetest chicken I've ever owned. We were just given her ... I've never encountered a cross beaked chicken before. Is it possible she'll be okay like this? I was told she'd be fine by the lady who gave her to us...

There is no need to kill chickens with cross/scissor beak,whomever suggested this,does not understand condition. Here is a link to help you understand condition.

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/03/scissor-beak-aka-crossed-beak-what-it.html

 

[Ravenseye]

I had a hen like that once, a Buff Orpington which is kind of what yours looks like. She lived quite a long time considering, finally succumbing to a respiratory disease that got a few other birds as well. Like yours, she was different in a nice way. She was slower than the other hens in the flock but still managed to be out there with them when they foraged. I don't know for sure how successful she was but she seemed happy and ran right along with the others when she knew a treat was in store for her. I found that she had trouble feeding on pellets from the feeder when her upper beak got too long and it seemed to benefit her if I trimmed it with a clipper like you use on dog or cat nails. The first time I trimmed, the beaks had started to curl and I made her bleed. After that I was more careful. She seemed to use her bottom beak as a scoop so as long as she was eating out of something that let her scoop the food up, she was fine. She liked oatmeal...I think it was an easy food to get. She also had trouble with the waterer if it was low. I discovered that my large waterer had a deeper rim so I put that in the coop and left the smaller one outside. In the winter, the other hens pushed her out of the feeder but she just waited until they were done since she took her time eating. I stopped worrying about her early on (we got her as a "gift" as well) since it was clear that she figured out how to make it work better than I ever would have. Strange as it sounds, I admired her. She kind of humbled me in a way that I can't really describe. Nothing wrong with being humbled every once in a while.