Duckling with bill deformity

[Unruffled]

I had some mixed duck eggs that I took from my goose and on 5/27/21 this little guy/gal hatched with feet that wouldn’t uncurl (until I put “shoes” on them for two days) and the obvious bill deformity.

Now when they first hatched it appeared as a very mild underbite, but has gotten worse since then. Currently, they are unable to ever close their bill and their tongue hangs out a lot of the time. They seem to be able to eat and drink ok though. I don’t know about grooming down the road though. Also, I was looking at them closely yesterday and it looked like the edges of the front of their tongue might be drying out. Any suggestions as to what I can use to prevent that from happening? Or any other suggestions to help them thrive?
(I will get better pictures. Dummy me, I left their heat light on)

Thanks in advance!!

 

[the_peanut_coop]

I had some mixed duck eggs that I took from my goose and on 5/27/21 this little guy/gal hatched with feet that wouldn’t uncurl (until I put “shoes” on them for two days) and the obvious bill deformity.

Now when they first hatched it appeared as a very mild underbite, but has gotten worse since then. Currently, they are unable to ever close their bill and their tongue hangs out a lot of the time. They seem to be able to eat and drink ok though. I don’t know about grooming down the road though. Also, I was looking at them closely yesterday and it looked like the edges of the front of their tongue might be drying out. Any suggestions as to what I can use to prevent that from happening? Or any other suggestions to help them thrive?
(I will get better pictures. Dummy me, I left their heat light on)

Thanks in advance!!

oh no! that's terrible. I don't know what you could do about it. beak deformities are difficult to deal with. try deeper feeder and waterers.

 

[Unruffled]

oh no! that's terrible. I don't know what you could do about it. beak deformities are difficult to deal with. try deeper feeder and waterers.

Yes, you’re right. There isn’t much to do. I appreciate your suggestion of the deeper dishes though. I hadn’t thought of that. I also added some water to their food so that it would be easier to swallow.( I just have to be sure to change it every morning). Thanks again!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Hopefully the deep dishes will help with feed an water. Not sure what to do about the tongues drying out other than keeping water close by. Is there more than one duckling like this?

 

[Miss Lydia]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threadloom/search?keywords=Deformed+bill+in+ducklings&tab=0

 

[Unruffled]

Hopefully the deep dishes will help with feed an water. Not sure what to do about the tongues drying out other than keeping water close by. Is there more than one duckling like this?

Sorry I took so long to respond, but, no, there are no other ducklings with any type of deformities or anything like this little guy/gal. They still seem to be doing ok, thankfully. One thing I do notice though, is that they noticeably breathe harder, when resting, than the other ducklings do. I will just keep an eye on them. Maybe it’s just because they can’t breathe through their nares very well?

 

[Miss Lydia]

I am just now seeing this. I'm sure not having nares would contribute to how it is breathing. Glad to hear it's still doing okay too. Thanks for updating.

 

[bhaugh]

I heard some time back you can file the longer beak to more match the short end. I wouldn't try this on a ducklings but research and see if it might help. Most ducks with a beak deformity are not cost effective long term.

 

[swampfox440]

It made it this far and it should be able to survive but it wouldn't be a good choice for breeding . Wish you well .

 

[Unruffled]

Sorry I took so long to respond, but, no, there are no other ducklings with any type of deformities or anything like this little guy/gal. They still seem to be doing ok, thankfully. One thing I do notice though, is that they noticeably breathe harder, when resting, than the other ducklings do. I will just keep an eye on them. Maybe it’s just because they can’t breathe through their nares very well?

I just thought I’d post an update. First of all, thank you for your suggestions. I have named the little duckling Shirley( she has begun to quack and she is a girl). I will post pictures the next time I go out. But she is doing really well. Her feet are almost perfectly straight. Her bill never did form. So she has all of her bottom bill and slightly more than half of her top bill.

She does eat and drink out of deep dishes. Right now she is staying in a 10’x13’ fully enclosed pen with 9 other ducklings and a disabled drake. When I let the rest of the ducklings out of that pen to mix with general population next week, she will stay behind to live with my disabled drake, Lazlo. This way I can keep an eye on her and make sure she is getting enough to eat. I can also make sure the older birds aren’t picking on her.