I have a four day old white Polish chick. She looked just fine the first two days, now we noticed her beak is starting to cross. Has anyone had experience with this? I've looked in my poultry books to no avail. Will she be able to eat? Is there anything I can do to help her? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

-- Sharon (cheesyemailaddy@notreal.com), April 25, 2002

Answers

Just hatched out a chick the same way. Unfortunatley as it gets older it will die. Mine did. As far as I know there is nothing that you can do.

-- tracy (murfette@stargate.net), April 25, 2002.

I have had three like that over the years. DON"T clip it - it grows back worse. They all became the hand - fed "beggars" named Beakie". They love to jump in the feed can.I think they can only pick sideways. The make good "pets".

-- Elizabeth Quintana (rockshelter@webtv.com), April 25, 2002.

We had a rooster like that - we just called him Crooked Beak or Crooky. We never gave him any special treatment, and he lived for a good long time. He was a favorite with the ladies! :-)

-- Cheryl in KS (klingonbunny@planetkc.com), April 25, 2002.

Last fall one of our meat birds had a crooked beak and was also blind. It would walk in circles looking for food so we had to put it up to the feeder (a separate one away from the others so it got a fair chance to eat) but it never grew real well. It could eat okay but was slower growing. We called him Winky. Winky died at about 8 weeks of age. I am guessing that there was "more" wrong with him inside.

-- JoAnn in SD (jnehls@nvc.net), April 25, 2002.

Sharon, I am late getting to this, just wanted to pass on my aunts experience with her crossed bill bird. An Auracona, he has been around for quite a while now(about 4 years). OK to just keep one as a pet but DON'T LET HIM BREED! You don't want to perpetuate this fault. Hope this helps a bit. LQ

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), April 27, 2002.

Thanks everyone. She's still hanging in there, but the crossing appears to be getting worse. She's eating fine and feathering out nicely. I hope she lives--I got her for my daughter, as a pet. We won't use her eggs to hatch. Thanks for the encouragement and sharing. God bless!

-- Sharon (cheesyemailaddy@notreal.com), April 27, 2002.