My duckling has a white beak! What's it mean?

[MotherDucker82]

I have 4 Pekin ducklings, and all have normal yellow beaks except one. He/she has a white/faint rosey pink bill. He/she is also the biggest duckling we have, almost double the size of the smallest Pekin duckling. They are all about a month old. The duckling had a white beak from the time it hatched, or a day after it hatched. Why is it white?

 

[nuthatched]

Are it's legs also white?

 

[MotherDucker82]

Are it's legs also white?

No, normal color.

 

[nuthatched]

No, normal color.

I think its a breed called White Layer, they're often sold as Pekin, but they're a mix I think.

 

[Stipenvlerk]

I have 4 Pekin ducklings, and all have normal yellow beaks except one. He/she has a white/faint rosey pink bill. He/she is also the biggest duckling we have, almost double the size of the smallest Pekin duckling. They are all about a month old. The duckling had a white beak from the time it hatched, or a day after it hatched. Why is it white?

Did the one with the different bill color turn out to be a diffent gender too? #curious

 

[MotherDucker82]

Did the one with the different bill color turn out to be a diffent gender too? #curious

Yes, he turned out to be a drake, and the rest are female. Now he has a normal orange beak, but he has terrible arthritis, or something like that. He does great in the cold, but when it gets above 80 we have to put him in a basket and carry him around the house because it's too painful to walk.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Are you giving any niacin? very important for leg health.

 

[g-dub]

yes, i have learned the hard way that niacin is super important for growth in ducks and keeping there bones healthy and strong

 

[Miss Lydia]

yes, i have learned the hard way that niacin is super important for growth in ducks and keeping there bones healthy and strong

 

[ANightPerson]

I've bought and hatched a lot of pekins, sometimes they just having slightly varying beak colors. I've seen a few ducklings with this coloring before, it's probably genetic. Hens prefer drakes with lighter beak colors (there've been studies on this) so drakes tend to have lighter beaks due to sexual selection, might have something to do with that. I've only kept one of them that was like this and he also turned out to be a drake, his beak was slightly lighter than the others when he grew up too.