Beak problems with my duck

[Alicia0795]

This has been a problem for a little bit now with my ducks beak. This "skin" is overgrowing on his beak and it has been getting bigger. It is getting closer to his nostrils so i am getting worried it will continue to grow over them. It started off as a small over growth and now it is on both sides of his beak. What is this and how can i fix it?

 

[Debs Flock]

I've never seen anything like that. I'll tag some people that might be able to help. Answers to these questions might be helpful...

Has your duck had a previous injury to his bill? How old is he? Is this happening on both sides?

@jtn42248
@Miss Lydia
@RavynFallen
@WVduckchick
@casportpony

 

[Alicia0795]

He has not had injury to his bill before and he is about 3 years old. It kind of just looks like new bill is growing over the existing one. Weird. Started off very small and just grew larger and it is on both sides

 

[Miss Lydia]

I've never seen anything like that. I'll tag some people that might be able to help. Answers to these questions might be helpful...

Has your duck had a previous injury to his bill? How old is he? Is this happening on both sides?

@jtn42248
@Miss Lydia
@RavynFallen
@WVduckchick
@casportpony

I wish I could help but I haven't ever seen anything like that.
Maybe @casportpony has though.

 

[Tevyes Dad]

You used the pronoun "his". Is this a drake? (I don't know Ancona Ducks and only my girls get speckles/spots on their bills). My drakes however do get some flaking on their bills that looks something like what you have. It generally starts in the spring and I believe it is from new bill forming under the flaking part (some times they get a little bit of a red glow there like there is more blood building the new bill). This eases in the summer then disappears in the fall. I was initially worried when I first saw it, then I saw other mentions of "drake" bill on the forum and I just watched it come and go last year. This has never happened to any of my ducks though, just my two drakes. Here are some pictures from last year.




If you look at these pictures full size, you can see the flaking and some redness. I believe this is normal and hormonally driven. I am not sure you are experiencing the same thing, but it is a possibility if it is a drake. Let others pipe in and you can do some searching about drakes and bills - I found several others experiencing the same thing and no "solutions".

 

[Alicia0795]

yes it is a drake. I am not sure, he has had it for a while now, couple of months. it seems to be spreading bigger on his beak. In the pictures you gave me is it like flaking off instead of growing on top of the bill like in my picture? a little hard to tell.

 

[Tevyes Dad]

yes it is a drake. I am not sure, he has had it for a while now, couple of months. it seems to be spreading bigger on his beak. In the pictures you gave me is it like flaking off instead of growing on top of the bill like in my picture? a little hard to tell.

It kind of flaked off around the edges, but the area involved grew for a while, then stopped renewing, but it went on a good 6-8 months. So I would say it was both a growing and flaking. I had the feeling that it was growing up from the bill and then the edges of the area were lifting and flaking. At times it looked kind of like a buildup similar to yours. I wouldn't rule out other think like a fungus or whatever else can happen, but if you search, you will find several examples of other peoples drakes. Some put moisturizers on it and I don't know if that helped or not (in my case it went away all by itself and now they are showing very slight signs of it again) - but this coincides with my lead drake starting to be a jerk again so I think it is just part of their hormonal flow (in my case). So I don't really know for sure, but if no one else responds and your drake is happy, eating and pooping I would just keep a very close eye on it (of course if it actually starts to bridge his nares, to the vet he should go, but if it looks and feels like the normal substance from his bill (except for the dry flaky bit), it might just be hormones.

These two pictures are Kaine at his worst (February of 2015) - He was affected more than Tevye which makes sense since he was affected more than Tevye as far as being a jerk too. I don't think it was growing any more, but the old material was peeling off like crazy. After this it started looking better as the old stuff dried and flaked off.





There were definitely times that it was more built up and others that it was more flaky.

This picture was taken January 9th:


His bill is fairly smooth but he is starting to get a little red tinge to his bill.


This is Jan 31st


A little more red, some drying and you can see a bit of buildup just starting above and behind his nares.

Ultimately you are going to have to decide if you think this is the same thing, but it seems to be a cycle with both my boys (and none of my girls) and I have seen a few other references and pics on the site. I would guess it is the same thing, but my lifetime point of reference is two drakes who are just getting to 2 years old, so I am by no means authoritative.

 

[Alicia0795]

thanks for the advice. I am going to keep my eye on it. My other drakes have the flaking but his is a little different. I hope it goes away on its own