Polly the Duck to get new 3D-printed prosthetic bill

Polly the Duck gets a new bill

The Georgetown community is rallying around a duck with a big personality. Polly the duck was found at a pond in Leander with a bill that is partially missing.

GEORGETOWN, Texas - From beavers to baby raccoons, All Things Wild Rehabilitation in Georgetown welcomes wild animals of all shapes and sizes.

Last year alone, the center took in almost 4,000 animals.

"That includes songbirds, raptors, which are hawks and owls, mammals and reptiles," said Helen Laughlin, president of All Things Wild.

However, a special domestic duck has won their hearts.

Polly, a Pekin duck, was found in a pond in Leander with a partially missing bill. They believe she may have been attacked by some kind of predator.

"She kind of sucks her food up and kind of gets a little sideways when getting her food, but she eats very well. She wanders around our center and picks up everybody's spilled food, including her own," said Laughlin. "The only thing she really can't do is groom her back. She's not very good at grooming her back. So we give her lots of back scratches to make her feel better."

Across town, Ryan Andrade, a junior at Southwestern University, showed FOX 7 Austin around the Makerspace 3D Print Studio where he and other students accepted the challenge of creating a prosthetic bill for Polly.

"We used our 3D scanning hardware here and a mix of our 3D scanning software as well in which we scanned the likeness of ducks like Polly and Polly herself, and then recreated those into workable 3D objects," said Andrade.

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It’s a first-of-its-kind project at the lab.

"With the fine minutia of the duck's bill, it really takes a lot to be able to scan with the reflective properties of the keratin. So we're kind of working from scratch and with the tools that we have available," said Andrade. "So sometimes we have to take a little bit of liberties within the duck’s bill and recreate that using software and AI and tools like that."

Once they complete the prosthetic bill, they hope to figure out a way to surgically attach it to Polly.

In the meantime, having less of a bill is like water off a duck’s back to Polly.

"She really is happy," said Laughlin. "And we always can find her because we hear the quacking."

Wag Heaven, a local pet supply store and dog wash, is selling "Dottie the Duck" plush dog toys to fundraise. Proceeds will be donated to All Things Wild to help with Polly’s expenses and the expenses of other ducks brought to the center. The toys can be purchased in-store or online here.