Cracked Beak

[cmvanr]

My female Pekin duck has a small, dark crack in the tip of her beak, directly in the center. It is about 1/4 inch long, and extends from the tip towards her head. Poor girl! It doesn't seem to bother her, and I don't see any blood - is there anything I can/should do?

What would cause this? Cold weather? Pecking at the frozen ground?

 

[Amiga]

Yes, some kind of impact, or possibly getting her bill stuck and pulling on it could crack it.

A few ideas are to rinse it several times a day in lukewarm saline solution, or get ahold of something like Veterycin spray to clean it off.

I feel that doing the cleaning with something mild and antimicrobial makes the most sense, since she will be eating and drinking. And just watch to make sure nothing starts looking wrong, indicating that infection is setting in.

You might want to bring her in overnight, just to watch, and to take some of the energy she would be spending staying warm, to accelerate healing. You may be able to keep her cleaner in "sick bay," as well.

 

[cmvanr]

Thanks for the suggestions!

She is housed with our chickens (she was raised with them and I believe that she believes she is one)... they seem to appreciate and respect her loud-mouthed ways (I could sneak as quietly as possible and Stooge will sound the alarm, haha!).

How do I know what to look for, with regard to infection? The crack itself is dark... and the beak around the crack is a bit lighter than the rest of her beak. I don't see any blood, and I have a feeling that if I try to grab her to bring her in, it'll stress her beyond belief

We named her Stooge because she ran off into some underbrush in a ditch as a duckling to get away from us... practically right into a fox's den So... you know, kind of a smart Alec name. She doesn't like being handled, and we never really pushed it with her - she is about four years old now. She'll occasionally let me pet her when I'm feeding them, but generally she only appreciates our presence when it is accompanied by food or goodies. She'll follow me like its her job if I'm carrying anything resembling her feed transporters. Her mate was much more people-friendly :/ Tate (the male) was killed by a raccoon this past Spring so it is a good thing she has the chickens!

 

[Amiga]

Changes in the tissue around the wound, keeping her bill open, those kinds of things. Also if her eyes start to look different. Hard to describe, but if you have had her four years I think you would notice "different."

She sounds like quite the character. Usually, early frequent consistent cleaning can greatly reduce the risk of infection.

 

[Marty1876]

I agree with Amiga, clean the beak good. Catching her and treating her will be less stressful in the long run than infection and pain. I have a duck and goose that's beaks were torn up pretty bad from a dog attack a month ago. I just peroxided once, and then neosporin (not pain releiving) for a few days to get them a good head start.

 

[cmvanr]

Hi guys! Sorry for the delayed response. Stooge is doing well... the crack really has not been an issue for her. It actually isn't all that noticeable anymore - it was basically in the spot where there egg-tooth would be as a hatchling :/ She is, however, yellow now! We feed our birds a constant supply of corn during the winter months (in addition to being fed a 17% crumble daily)... within days of offering the corn, she starts to turn YELLOW <-- that shade of yellow.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Hi guys! Sorry for the delayed response. Stooge is doing well... the crack really has not been an issue for her. It actually isn't all that noticeable anymore - it was basically in the spot where there egg-tooth would be as a hatchling :/ She is, however, yellow now! We feed our birds a constant supply of corn during the winter months (in addition to being fed a 17% crumble daily)... within days of offering the corn, she starts to turn YELLOW <-- that shade of yellow.

It's a nice color of yellow any way, happy to hear Stooge is doing well.

 

[BantamWhisperer]

Poor girl! I hope she gets better quick! Could you post a pic? I had a Muscovy who cracked his bottom bill all te way up! His tongue would hang Down due to the ripped skin : (

 

[cmvanr]

Aww... Stooge's beak had just a tiny little blip of a crack... not much longer than -> I <- that "I". It actually is not even visible anymore - not sure how that worked? I didn't think the tissue there would "heal"... it wasn't all the way through her beak, though, so maybe through grooming, etc. she wore it down?

Do duck's beaks continue to grow?