Rash/scaling on my drake Pekins bill

[BattyAngel]

Hi, I have never seen anything like this before... I've been away from my birds for several weeks. We have a live in, hired hand who cares for my birds when we're away... I thought he did a good job, but now I wonder if he has always been lazy and just makes everything look good by the day we come home... This time we arrived a couple days ahead of schedule because there was a blizzard coming. We were trying to get ahead of it, but failed, instead we arrived in the middle of it and discovered that the indoor pond we installed in our bird enclosure had not been cleaned the entire time and the bedding was also in terrible condition, as were the containers for their food and water. The water was bright green and smelled awful... The big bins that we store their food in were open and looked to have mold growing in them as well. I've rarely been so angry. Fast forward... now several days later, I find my drake has either damaged his bill somehow, or he has some kind of rash or scaley fungus. Has anyone seen this before? Do I need to take Mighty to the vet? Should I be concerned about my rooster Gaelle getting it too? Could it be because of the condition of the bird enclosure and etcetera? Or is this something completely different?

 

[_-Captain BRM-_]

Just looks like how we get tried skin and such to me... Give it some time and see what happens, he looks perfectly healthy.

 

[AngelinaThePekin8]

If his bill feels normal and doesn't feel super hot or too soft and he is acting healthy I don't think I would be too concerned just make sure too keep an eye on it like @Barred Rock Mama said. Maybe someone knows exactly what this is and maybe there is a way to prevent it from happening?

Here is a picture of my 9 year old cayuga drake Chiharu's bill for reference I guess, I hope this is useful in some way.
This is the best close up picture of his bill that I could find. Its just dry skin or something of the like I find that drakes tend to have it more then the hens do.

I hope everything goes well for you @BattyAngel and your pekin (Mighty is his name right?) is handsome/beautiful? Which word is better?

 

[AngelinaThePekin8]

Hi, I have never seen anything like this before... I've been away from my birds for several weeks. We have a live in, hired hand who cares for my birds when we're away... I thought he did a good job, but now I wonder if he has always been lazy and just makes everything look good by the day we come home... This time we arrived a couple days ahead of schedule because there was a blizzard coming. We were trying to get ahead of it, but failed, instead we arrived in the middle of it and discovered that the indoor pond we installed in our bird enclosure had not been cleaned the entire time and the bedding was also in terrible condition, as were the containers for their food and water. The water was bright green and smelled awful... The big bins that we store their food in were open and looked to have mold growing in them as well. I've rarely been so angry. Fast forward... now several days later, I find my drake has either damaged his bill somehow, or he has some kind of rash or scaley fungus. Has anyone seen this before? Do I need to take Mighty to the vet? Should I be concerned about my rooster Gaelle getting it too? Could it be because of the condition of the bird enclosure and etcetera? Or is this something completely different?

I am sorry you had issues with the sitter, I would hate it if someone didn't care for my birds properly while I was away.

How many ducks and chickens do you have? And how big is the enclosure as well as do they free range or have grass/plants in there pen?
What kind of bedding do you have or use?

Does the inside of his bill look okay, and have you checked all the other ducks bills as well.

Is Mighty acting normal along with the rest of the ducks? Are they eating, drinking, pooping, preening, and doing ducky things like normal?

The very top of his bill looks a little concerning but the rest of it looks normal to me.

I think if the enclosure was the cause then more ducks would have the same thing happening.

Maybe @Miss Lydia knows what to do?

There is a forum for ducks on BYC if you didn't know already, maybe you could ask about his bill there?
Please, correct me if I am wrong about anything I have said.

 

[AngelinaThePekin8]

I personally don't think he has anything serious going on.
I found some threads about the bill shedding or whatever it is actually called, I hope these help!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/drakes-bill-peeling-and-turning-green.610712/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/drakes-bill-peeling-and-turning-green.610712/