Diaper sizing & bill freckles

[KCNC06]

I wouldn’t worry about the bill freckles. Ducks bill color is determined by the Melanin (color pigment) in your ducks beak. So the black spots are usually just extra pigmentation which is completely normal. You can’t see most ducks spots because of the xanthophyll in certain ingredients of their feed and the green plants they eat produce it as well. Xanthophyll Gives them the yellow coloring to cover those spots. My female duck Waffles likes to eat her eggs when they crack, which contains a lot of xanthophyll from the egg yolks, so her beak is a very faded yellow compared to all of my other ducks, she also has a a lot of black dots on her bill as well despite that.
Some ducks you will see more black spots then others because their difference in melanin in that spot, and the xanthophyll just can’t cover it, which is nothing to worry about it is completely natural and isn’t something that will harm her!

There is most likely nothing to worry about, but if you think there is an underlying cause still, you might want to consider having a vet check her out. It’s less likely that there is something wrong with her that is causing this, however sometimes injury, infection, or a fungus can cause change in color.

I hope this helped! (Below is a pic of Waffles w/ all of her spots)

I've wondered if there might be a speckled duck breed somewhere in the mix that they used to make White Layers. It doesn't seem like there are *that* many solid white breeds, especially smaller breeds, that they could have used. Especially since White Layers are a hybrid that breeds true, or produces white ducklings at least. One of my other ducklings hatched from these parents has a small black spot over one eye, it's gotten less noticeable as he's gotten bigger. Bill's freckles started as spots that I thought looked like little bruises. I worried that she had knocked it into something while she was being a weirdo. She's an indoor duck but eats lots of leafy greens. People at the grocery store thought I was some sort of health but with the big, heaping piles of greens and veggies I buy every week. Multiple times a week actually. Eventually I admitted that the produce was all for ducks. If I paid attention to how much money I spend on greens and veggies for ducks every week...oh man.

 

[Duckie doodle]

Obviously two very different questions but I'm lazy and didn't feel like making two posts.
First, about diaper sizing. I bought a diaper harness for my Bill Bill about a month ago from The Goose's Mother & Father. "His" snap measurement from neck to oil gland is ~9". I can't remember exactly but think that's the only measurement they ask for. Bill was 2 months old when I ordered his harness and weighed 4 lbs, I included this info with my order and entered "white layer" as the breed. The harness I received is a size 3 which seems big even when I have the belly straps pulled to their shortest length. I wouldn't think this was an issue except Bill has a tendency to kick out of the belly straps when he's having a diaper tantrum. I emailed the goose parents about the size, and asked if I could/should try a smaller size when I order a second harness. They said this was the right size, Bill would grow into it. Bill Bill is now 3.5 months old, still weighs around 4 lbs, snap measurement is still ~9", and the belly straps are still loose. I really don't think he's going to to grow much more... especially since I'm fairly certain he's a girl and his dad only weighs 5 lbs. So I guess my question is, for anyone who has ordered/uses Goose's parents' diaper harnesses, do you think I can request a smaller size harness? Or should I give a different duck breed in order to get a smaller harness? (They said "white layers" are also known as "jumbo Pekins"...) I'm also going to need a diaper harness for Bill's younger "brother" Pipsqueak who is almost 4 wks old. Pipsqueak just moved up to the largest pants from his pack of baby diaper harnesses.

Now for question #2. Are there diseases that cause freckling on ducks' bills or is it safe to assume that Bill Bill just has adorable bill freckles? I tease and say he caught freckles from my husband. I've been assuming that it's just his color genes turned on and giving him cute freckles but I'm absolutely in love with this baby and would hate to find out too late that freckles are a sign of something bad. (Because that's how my life goes sometimes.) He hasn't always had a freckled bill. They've been coming in slowly. It was one smallish freckle at first, I thought it was dirt but it wouldn't wipe off. Then it turned into a bigger freckle, followed by a few more big freckles. Then a few days ago I noticed a lot more tiny freckles. He also has a couple black spots inside his mouth that I can only see when we're snuggling and he yawns.
Here's Bill's super cute freckled bill.View attachment 1934342

I can answer your first question! I myself have a jumbo pekin drake (Paco is his name) whom I ordered a diaper from and it works awesome! I recommend you get your diaper from where I ordered mine. They are a bit pricey but if needed they make special orders but the one I order is for jumbo pekin originally and I belive the size is a D8. The place i ordered mine from is called Partyfowl pets.

 

[KCNC06]

I can answer your first question! I myself have a jumbo pekin drake (Paco is his name) whom I ordered a diaper from and it works awesome! I recommend you get your diaper from where I ordered mine. They are a bit pricey but if needed they make special orders but the one I order is for jumbo pekin originally and I belive the size is a D8. The place i ordered mine from is called Partyfowl pets.

Out of curiosity, how big is Paco? I assume a Jumbo Pekin is a good deal larger than my little Bill Bill but can't help wondering how much bigger. Or heavier I guess might be easier. Bill weighs 3.8-4 lbs depending on the time of day and how much she's eaten/pooped I guess. Of course, she looks big compared to my little Rouen/Khaki Campbell girl (Franklin). Franklin is only 2 months old though so I'm hoping she gains a little more weight. She only weighs 3 lbs right now! She almost looks like she's small enough to fly if she tried hard enough.

 

[Duckie doodle]

Out of curiosity, how big is Paco? I assume a Jumbo Pekin is a good deal larger than my little Bill Bill but can't help wondering how much bigger. Or heavier I guess might be easier. Bill weighs 3.8-4 lbs depending on the time of day and how much she's eaten/pooped I guess. Of course, she looks big compared to my little Rouen/Khaki Campbell girl (Franklin). Franklin is only 2 months old though so I'm hoping she gains a little more weight. She only weighs 3 lbs right now! She almost looks like she's small enough to fly if she tried hard enough.

Paco is 6 months old and he weighs 10lbs. I attatched a photo below.

 

[KCNC06]

Paco is 6 months old and he weighs 10lbs. I attatched a photo below.

Whoa! Yeah, definitely a LOT heavier than any of my ducks!! Our drake is about 1.5 yrs old and only weighs 5 lbs. Paco is so handsome!

 

[KCNC06]

@Duckie doodle is the Party Fowl diaper harness very similar to the harness made by The Goose's Mother/Father? Other than a larger assortment of colors and the leak proof liner, it looks nearly identical. Sometimes it's hard to tell by looking at pictures online though.

 

[Duckie doodle]

@Duckie doodle is the Party Fowl diaper harness very similar to the harness made by The Goose's Mother/Father? Other than a larger assortment of colors and the leak proof liner, it looks nearly identical. Sometimes it's hard to tell by looking at pictures online though.

It looks alike. The party fowl pets gas open and closed tail options as well as buckle or Velcro as well. They have more colors and designs.