Shedding duck bill?

[JaT1311]

So I have three mallard drakes, and the past 2 days I've noticed one of my ducks has this weird shedding or peeling going on with his bill,
I was wondering if anyone knows what it is? or if its a normal thing?
I have no idea.
raising ducks is a new thing for me

 

[cymbaline]

All I can really say is mine do it too. Doesn't seem to coincide with molting, and I haven't noticed it on the girls yet.

 

[JaT1311]

I am starting to wonder if it has to do with the cold weather like... dry skin? in winter

I'm keeping an eye on it, mostly to make sure its not bleeding or painful.

 

[cymbaline]

Hmm, I don't think that's it, because I used to have an indoor drake and it happened to him too. I run a humidifier in the winter (for the sake of my own skin) plus he had a bathtub 24/7. I've never seen it look raw or anything, definitely no blood, just a little more orange underneath instead of the normal yellow. Here's my indoor boy Louie (he liked to nibble on my fuzzy socks, lol); you can see the flakiness and the orange-y spots on his bill, and he didn't start molting until a couple of months later.

If you look through my pics on here I think you can see it on some of my other boys too.

 

[JaT1311]

Yeah i definitely see the orange, its like that on my duck too.
hmmm... well i guess its good to know about the weather, takes it right out of the equation.

my main concern is just how dry and sort of inflamed it looks on my drake... this is Bradley poor guy
see how its kinda flakey on the sides

could it be some sort of fungus or disease?

 

[kmlady518]

Hmmm. I have three mallard drakes too. Mine live outside all year in a dog kennel. Now with hay and tarps covering 95% off it. My boys are also showing this flaking. I thought it was because of the cold weather. This is my boys first winter and my first winter having ducks. The feet on my ducks also look very dry. I didnt know if this was the same as their bills or scaley leg.

 

[JaT1311]

My ducks are also only outdoor
i have had them about a year and a half now so this is our second winter
unfortunately i do not remember their bills becoming flakey last winter and i still have no idea what it is

i also havent noticed it on all but the one i keep posting pictures of -- his feet are a little flakey but i am not as worried about it as i was
it doesnt seem to be painful for him or really bugging him
(if anything its bugging me more because i cant figure it out) so i am just keeping a really close eye on it to make sure its not raw or anything

 

[kbandlollipop]

My Dabby Duck's beak looks the same. It never has seemed to bother him, but I always keep on eye on it. We are in Denver and it's very dry here, but he always can dunk too and he does and it never seems to go away so must be normal?

 

[Learningstill]

Here is another forum about this topic.

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

 

[trondin]

My pekin Luna gets a little peely on the top of her beak from what I concluded to be her constantly sticking her beak through her cage trying to get attention and it scrapes around. She doesn't seem bothered by it at all and even let's me put some lotion on it so it doesn't get itchy and her beak is always fine after a piece flakes off!