Intro and Help with Duck with Malformed Bill

[uglyduckling]

Hey there! I can't believe the username "uglyduckling" wasn't taken! That's us now I guess

First of all, hello to yet another forum community, this time I'm not fixing old cars up, but me and my girlfriend decided to get some backyard ducks this spring. We're very excited and it's been a blast so far.

Last Wednesday we received 6 female welsh harlequin ducklings (at least we hope they're all female, they were supposedly sexed) in the mail. SO CUTE! Anyways, they've been getting along fine, getting so much bigger every day. Here are some cute pics:

A few days ago we noticed one of the ducks has a malformed bill. We've now affectionally named her Angelina (because of the big lips). Angelina has been eating ok (has to scoop up her food and we have to hand feed her some other foods), and drinking ok (by scooping up the water). She is starting to get picked on a little bit (not all the time) by a few of the ducks - they were poking at her beak. When they sleep Angelina breathes pretty heavily through her mouth, as it looks like her nostrils are clogged up (skin growing over the top?). It always seems to take Angelina a little longer to settle down to sleep and to get into the clump with the others.

I saw this thread and read through it: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/523505/duckling-with-deformed-bill-no-nostrils/10. It looks like Angelina is ok, and will probably be fine, but we wanted to make sure that we are doing everything possible to make sure she will turn out ok, and figured it would be good to ask.

Below are some pictures of Angelina:

We're open to any comments or suggestions. Thanks so much!

Julien & Hana

PS: Yes I do have a super nice camera - that macro lens came in handy!!!

 

[chooks4life]

Hello and

Yes, lol, you do have a good camera. Wish I did. Soon, soon...

It seems to me that it's a skull deformity causing delayed and incorrect growth, usually affecting one side more than the other. If she can eat and drink now, she may be fine, however it's worth bearing in mind that crossbeak type problems in chickens usually get worse as they approach adulthood.

So far I haven't heard of there being a genetic basis in it for chickens, but I haven't really researched it either. Possibly a chemical or other pollutant's side effect.

Best wishes.