Help! Is my Duckling sick?

[WalterAndKevin]

So I have two ducks, Walter and Kevin. They’re both girls but I named them already so I decided to stick with it. Anyways, I discovered early on that their favorite food is peas. Whenever they see me with peas, they will do anything to get and and when I hand feed, they bite so hard that it hurts. However, today when I fed them, Kevin still jumped and bit really hard but Walter was so gentle and barely bit anything—almost as if it hurt to put pressure on his beak. This just started today. He is acting normal and alert otherwise but I am a bit concerned. By the way, they are 6 weeks old. Tonight, Walter also had a hard time catching the food where in the past he had no problem. Help!!
Thank you!

 

[Laura_BelgianBantams_63]

@Isaac 0

 

[Isaac 0]

Most waterfowl have nerves on the tip of their bill, called "Bill tip sensory organs", that allows them to better feel when probing around in rocks, mud, vegetation, etc.

https://ebrary.net/97900/health/bill_organs_waterfowl

Due to the abundance of nerves, and receptors in that area, when that area is injured, it may particularly feel more painful, than caused somewhere else on the body. If your bird hit his bill on something, and the tip is a little sore, perhaps, that could cause some prehension issues. There are of course other problems that can affect the bill's prehension ability, like neurological issues or just the bird feeling ill, but I would personally wait, and see if he gains strength back in the bill as long as he acting OK, and eating drinking well.

For now, it would be good to be him moisten feed, in a deep bowl.