Identifying Cross Beak
If you’re new to the backyard chicken world you probably don’t have a clue what cross beak (or scissor beak) is. That is, until you check on your chicks one day and realize that one of them has a strange looking beak. That’s what happened to me! I had four brand new chicks in the brooder in the garage. I checked on them several times a day. One day (I swear it happened overnight) I noticed one of my sweet girls had an odd looking beak.
Sweet Dorothy with her odd looking beak.
I immediately had a mini panic attack and started researching. I googled and read everything I could find. Google of course led me to BYC and I found a ton of answers. So, if you’re in the same boat, take a deep breath and keep reading.
What is Cross Beak?
Cross beak is when the chickens beak is misaligned and therefore the top portion overlaps the bottom. In severe cases of cross beak you may see facial or eye abnormalities as well. Once you know what you’re looking for, it’s VERY easy to spot.
What Causes Cross Beak?
Now let’s talk about WHY some chickens have cross beak. There are a variety of reasons from genetic defects, improper incubator conditions, vitamin/mineral deficiency or injury/trauma.
Generally if the cross beak is a result of a genetic defect or improper incubator conditions the chick will hatch with the deformity. If the cross beak develops later in life (4 weeks on) it is most likely linked to some sort of deficiency or trauma.
Our sweet Dorothy had a normal beak at hatch so I’m not sure what caused her cross beak.
One fact that remains the same regardless of the etiology of the cross beak is that it will worsen as the bird gets older.
You can see here how much worse Dorothy’s beak became as she got older.
Can I Fix Cross Beak?
One of the biggest questions new chicken owners have is: can cross beak be fixed? The answer is no. A chickens beak is part of its skull, therefore trying to manipulate it back into place would cause serious harm to the chicken.
Beak Maintenance
You can trim or file the beak to ensure both the top and bottom stay the same length and make it easier to eat. I personally used nail clippers to clip Dorothy’s beak at first but later learned that the tip of the beak has many pain receptors and clipping with nail clippers can be painful for the bird. The best way to maintain a beak is using a file regularly so you don’t need to file a large amount at one time.
You’re probably thinking, “how in the world can I get my bird to hold still long enough to trim their beak??” One of the best ways to trim/file a beak is to gently wrap the chicken in a towel, making a “chicken burrito” so they cannot flap their wings. Something else that helps is to gently cover their eyes with something; this will generally keep them calm long enough to take care of beak maintenance.
Just know whenever you do beak maintenance you may see some bleeding; try to keep some cornstarch or kwik-stop handy in case there is any bleeding.
Feeding a Chicken With Cross Beak
Keeping up on beak maintenance can help chickens with cross beak immensely but there will be some cases where, even with routine beak trims, the chicken will not be able to eat properly. Chickens use their beaks to pick up pieces of food. When the beak is severely misaligned, picking up single pieces of fed can be very difficult or sometimes impossible. Our Dorothy can very rarely pick things up with her beak. So what do we do? WET MASH! Wet mash is just what it sounds like. We take our chick starter crumble and add water! Viola! (You want the mash to be oatmeal consistency.) Wet mash makes it possible for cross beak birds to scoop up the feed with their bottom beak.
Some people add vitamins to the mash but we do not. I also know some people will put large pieces of bread within the mash so it will soak it up and then the bird can pick it up easier and eat it that way.
Dorothy very clearly loves her mash.
Your other chickens will also love the wet mash so it’s important that your cross beak gets adequate time with the mash before you let the others enjoy it too!
Something else we love to do with Dorothy is hand feed her leafy greens! Everyday when we let the girls out (we do this multiple times a day as they cannot free range without supervision at the moment) my daughters will pick leaves and hold them so Dorothy can rip pieces off and gobble them up!
Dorothy does just fine with wet mash (with no additives) and hasn’t needed any further assistance with eating but there are some instances where the bird may require tube feeding in order to get the nutrition they need. If you are in that boat, there are helpful articles located right here in the learning center with instructions on tube feeding.
I do want to add that sometimes cross beak chickens are able to eat regular feed if you provide it in a deep dish. There are instances where the cross beak may not require any assistance with eating.
Body Condition
The easiest way to ensure your cross beak is getting proper nutrition is to pay close attention to their body condition. Check their crop multiple times a day to make sure it is adequately full. Crops should be full during the day but completely empty in the morning before the chickens have anything to eat. Along with checking the crop and monitoring body condition, you can weigh your cross beak in the morning before they eat to ensure they are gaining weight. A kitchen scale is perfect for this!
Dorothy is not a fan of weigh ins
Along with making sure your chicken is getting enough to eat, something else to look for when checking body condition is whether or not your chicken is grooming/preening well enough. Sometimes with a cross beak it is very difficult for birds to remove the sheath off of their new feathers. It is important to remove the sheath because if it is not removed it can weaken the feather. To help your cross beak remove these sheaths you can gently roll the feather between your fingers from the base up; doing this will break the waxy coating and you will be able to remove it. I personally don’t have to do this for Dorothy but I do regularly check her feathers to make sure everything looks/feels normal.
Something that I do have to do often for Dorothy is clean her beak/face. When she eats, she REALLY eats and make quite a mess on herself. This is really simple and quick to do. I just hold her head in place and use my finger to wipe her beak off/out. She squawks at me when I do it; mostly because she’s annoyed with me.
Will My Chick Grow/Survive?
The short answer is YES. There is no research suggesting that cross beak by itself shortens the lifespan.There are many cross beaks that live well into adulthood. If you are willing to put in the extra effort to support your chicken they can live a long, happy chicken life. Dorothy is growing and thriving right next to her hatch mates. She is a little on the small side but remains very healthy as far as I can tell.
Some cross beak chickens may require minimal support and others may require a lot of help. It is up to you as the chickens owner to decide how much help you are willing to give; but again, with the right assistance your cross beak can live a happy life.
I will tell you the extra effort I have put into taking care of Dorothy has been so worth it. She is the sweetest little lady and I couldn’t imagine my flock without her.
My sweet girl Dorothy giving some snuggles.
