My ducklings bills are not normal! The top curls up! Help!

[angiegorham17]

Hi guys! I'm Angie, I have a 9 month old mallard, his name is goose/petey! He currently has foster siblings (baby mallards) the two of the have to be maybe 5 days old at max, their bills are nothing I've ever seen before.. It looks like you took to Pringles and stuck them in your mouth to make a duck face, I will attach a photo. They can eat and drink, just a little harder for them, the just can't close the front properly cause it curls opposite directions (upper curls up) Any idea what causes this, anything I can do to help since they are still growing? Any Input would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks so much smile.png

 

[teach1rusl]

I'm not a duck person, but it may be a form of what's referred to as cross beak or scissor beak in the chicken world. How it will effect the duckling will depend on how severe it becomes (sometimes with chickens it gets progressively worse as they age - other times holds steady). Obviously the main way it effects them is that it makes it more difficult to eat/drink.

At least with chickens, deep waterers and feed dishes are needed, because they can't pick up little pieces like most can - so they need to be able to scoop rather than pick. I would keep a close eye on the weight of the duckling to know for certain whether it's able to eat enough - it would be a terrible thing to slowly starve to death. But if it can eat/drink well, and doesn't seem to be in discomfort, then it should be able to lead a ducky life...

 

[Amiga]

teach1rusl covered it, I think.

I suspect nutritional deficiency contributes to the problem, but there may be incubation problems associated with it , also - not sure.

Weighing them daily makes sense, as well as providing feeders and waterers that will work for them.

You could add poultry vitamins to their drinking water once every week or two for a boost.