It looks like this guy has dislocated his beak. Click on picture to make it bigger.
I can't tell if he is able to eat, I've got him separated from the others for now to see if he can eat. I'm pretty sure it is one of the meat birds. Is there anything we can do or should I just put him out of his misery?
21 comments:
Oh no! I hope it is just a meat bird, but still, poor little guy. I don't know how it works on chickens, just parrots and cockatiels, who have very different beaks and can be, most of the time, fixed pretty easily.
How sad. I don't know about that. Pam over at Life on A Southern Farm may be able to help you out. You can find a link to her through my blog
It is sad, but unfortunatly, you need to put him down.
I would put him down. If I find one like that that is what I do.Of course I get my birds 16,000 at a time and the are 22 weeks old by the time I get them. Usually those birds don't grow well and are picked on by the others.
We've had some chicks with funny looking beaks here. We have one Silver Polish that had a beak shaped like your little fellow and I didn't think she would make it. But she did. We fed her separate from the others until she was bigger because the others ate faster than her and she wasn't getting enough.
I'd sure give it a chance. Let him/her eat by itself and see if can eat on it's own.
As big as it looks it must be getting something to eat and drink?
Good luck.
Pam
I'm so glad I found your blog. I am about to get me some chicks. I haven't built a coop or pen yet. It is still in the planning stage.
Too bad about the chicks beak. I have never heard of that before.
Can't wait to read more. Have a nice day. Becca
He just has a head cold...breathing through his mouth rather than his nose!
That's called crossbeak, and it seems to be more common in the EEs. I had one last year that just kept getting worse and worse until he had to be culled. There's alot of information to be had at the Backyard CHickens forum. Just search "crossbeak" and you'll be surprised the information that you can find. Good Luck Christy, and if you have any questions feel free to ask! :)
I never found a good way to fix that problem. What I do is just let them be. If they live, they are eating; if they don't, they weren't. Babies don't live long if they can't eat, so he/she won't suffer long. Farm life isn't very fun sometimes.
My philosophy - never give up! LOL give him a chance and see what happens..he looks good now so maybe it isnt going to be a problem! Good luck and let us know how he comes out!
Sorry...hope she hangs in there. :o)
Poor thing. I wonder if he can still eat well enough to gain weight so at least you won't lose one of your meat birds. What a dilemma.
~Lisa
So sorry about your little chicks scissor beak. Having only dial up I normally do not get a chance to view the picture at the top of the page due to the time it takes for it to load. This morning it finally popped up and I love the picture. So precious! Have a wonderful day.
Barbara
I've always heard it called scissor beak, but I'd watch the bird and see how it does. If it can eat and drink and grows with the rest of them, then I'd just let it be. Just don't breed it.
Personally, I would get rid of him. No sense in prolonging things. May as well say time/resources. Such is the way with raising farm animals. Good luck.
He's still hanging in there. I've read accounts of chicks with scissor beak living for years. He's a meat bird so he only needs to make it a few months.
I really hate to sound like such an ass, but did you do ANY research on raising farm birds before you brought them home? Between this and not knowing why the poor little duck died, I have to wonder how responsible an avian caretaker you all really are!
Please, please reach out to a good veterinarian or vet school for good information on how to raise these animals. Rescue groups can help too. They deserve much more respect than a bunch of mommy-bloggers speculating on how to care for them. I sincerely hope you did your research rather than just brought home a bunch of birds because you thought it would be like totally cool.
These are living, feeling animals that can and will suffer if not properly cared for.
Alice - Thanks for being so judgemental about someone you know nothing about. I did a lot of research on birds before getting them and am taking good care of them. I was not aware of scissor beak because you don't find mention of it in most books about raising poultry. It was nothing I did, it is a genetic defect. This bird will not be breed but I will provide for him as long as he isn't suffering.
As for the duck, animals die from predators sometimes. I go to extremes to protect my animals from predators but snakes are very hard to guard against.
I do have a vet and am doing everything right. If you've never had an animal get sick or die then you have been very lucky and shouldn't be so self righteous about it.
I have 3 adult chickens I've had for 6 months that are doing great. Babies are tricky and sometimes they die or get sick.
Christy-You are more gracious than I. Not only would I probably not have published such a uninformed, despicable comment, but I certainly wouldn't have been nearly as polite in my response as you have been either. Please don't take it to heart. You are doing very well for yourself, your family and your animals and as anyone who has ever owned animals and/or ran a farm knows, certain events are unavoidable and mistakes are sometimes made. Take it from a "mommy-blogger" with ohh....30 years experience with a range of animals....you're doing well and you are learning so much in these first experiences. We all start somewhere, and feeling guilty and or bad about the loss of the duckling will forever be in your mind and you will do your utmost to make sure something like that never happens again. (As much as is within your control anyway.)Just please don't let a mean spirited anon comment worsen those feelings for you, okay? xoxo
Poultry are very hard to get veterinary support for, at least they are here & in UK. My own vet has no idea with poultry (or goats really), but I have a wonderful animal pharmacist who does know. I once had need to ask advice from a vet about chickens (& he kept them) & he said Flubenvet was his stock cure: it either worked or it didn't. A specialist poultry vet wanted the body of an ill chicken ~ so let it die before he could tell me what was wrong!
Any research will not help when a visitor runs over 1 of your animals as happened to my tomcat when a father & son came to see my foal; or when someone in another field shoots my pregnant nanny goat for some unknown reason. "Mummy-Bloggers" are only an extension of asking locals who have kept animals for generations & who often know as much as the vets. I ask vets, locals & "Mummy-Bloggers" when I need advice & have several livestock books to hand.
Everyone has to start somewhere & there will be deaths, some avoidable, many unforseen.
If I'd followed logic, I would have killed Custard as he was a very weak, deformed chick, but after a few hours he found his strength & unwound himself into a proper baby chick shape & stance. Give animals a chance unless they are obviously in a bad way
I just found your blog while researching beak issues since one of our new hens/8 weeks old has one...I'm hanging in there with mine. If she can eat, she can stay [layer] we are ustainable and one deformed chicekn is fine with me- as long as hse can eat. As for the grumpy comment from someone- I know there are many people that do bring home animals, too many, and don't know wht they are doing, or aren't responsible. But sometimes, no often, we learn from things that come up. We had our first issues with ketosis in our flock, a real tradgedy this year. I knew about it, but learned invaluable lessons through out it, by reading, asking questions, researching, and dealing with my vet. You can't bring a vet on for evey livestock issue, and a scissor beak is one you learn from when it happens. Sounds like that's what you are doing.
ANd any know-it-all that thinks small farmers know EVERYTHING before they bring animals home...well, um, does a mother know everything before the baby comes.
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