## 3 Results  
In the SBDS 4-week-old duck group, impaired growth with shorter beaks (\(p\) < 0.006) and metatarasi (\(p\) < 0.006) and protruding tongues were observed. The lengths of the beak and the tarsus are presented in Table 1, Figures 1-3, S1 and S2. The presence of 1000 bp PCR products confirmed the _Anseriform dependoparoovirus 1_ genetic material in all investigated samples. The obtained sequences were highly homologous to sequences from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) GenBank database (KX384726.2, MW147177.1). The mean values of the clinical and histopathological results of the control and the SBDS group are shown in Tables 2-4. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c} \hline \hline
**Characteristics** & **Control Group** & **SBDS Group** & \(p\) **Value** \\ \hline Number of Pekin ducks & 20 & 20 & NS \\ \hline Age (weeks) & 4 & 4 & NS \\ \hline Beak length (mm) * & 71.71 \(\pm\) 3.35 & 43.43 \(\pm\) 7.04 & \(p\) \(<\) 0.001 \\ \hline Tarsus length (mm) & 65.50 \(\pm\) 3.78 & 57.86 \(\pm\) 4.26 & \(p\) = 0.006 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
* Measured from the anterior edge of the nostril. NS: not statistically significant.  
\end{table} 
Table 1: The beak and tarsus length in SBDS and clinically healthy ducks. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Variables** & **Control Group** & **SBDS Group** & \(p\) **Value** & \begin{tabular}{c} **[PERSON] et** \\ **[PERSON] 1996 [13] 1** \\ \end{tabular} & \
\begin{tabular}{c} **[PERSON] et al.,** \\ **2019 [14] 2** \\ \end{tabular} &
\begin{tabular}{c} **[PERSON] et al.,** \\ **2019 [15] 3** \\ \end{tabular} \\ \hline RBC mln/\(\mu\)L & 2.44 \(\pm\) 0.56 & 2.4 \(\pm\) 0.58 & NS & 3.84 & 4.65 \(\pm\) 0.76 & 2.63 \(\pm\) 0.11 \\ \hline HGB 9\% & 12.00 \(\pm\) 1.93 & 12.6 \(\pm\) 0.74 & NS & 12.00 & 13.29 \(\pm\) 1.65 & 13.32 \(\pm\) 0.45 \\ \hline HT \% & 42.00 \(\pm\) 1.52 & 44.2 \(\pm\) 1.92 & NS & 36.15 & 39.10 \(\pm\) 2.64 & 36.8 \(\pm\) 1.75 \\ \hline WBC thousand/\(\mu\)L & 16.38 \(\pm\) 3.03 & 52.58 \(\pm\) 5.32 & \(p\) \textless{} 0.001 & - & 8.24 \(\pm\) 2.34 & 13.23 \(\pm\) 0.3 \\ \hline Heterophils \% & 52.58 \(\pm\) 5.32 & 45.85 \(\pm\) 5.37 & NS & 62.10 & \\ \hline Eosinophils \% & 2.00 \(\pm\) 1.12 & 2.23 \(\pm\) 1.27 & NS & 0.60 & \\ \hline Basophils \% & 1.83 \(\pm\) 0.75 & 2.08 \(\pm\) 1.12 & NS & 5.80 & \\ \hline Monocytes \% & 1.50 \(\pm\) 0.53 & 1.33 \(\pm\) 0.58 & NS & 0.60 & \\ \hline Lymphocytes \%) & 52.58 \(\pm\) 5.32 & 49.03 \(\pm\) 10.46 & NS & 30.95 & \\ \hline H/L ratio & 0.87 \(\pm\) 0.18 & 0.92 \(\pm\) 0.17 & NS & 2.01 & \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
* No data. 2 Reference values for 1-week-old Iraq Pelkin ducks. 3 Reference values for 6-week-old Pekin ducks. HGB: concentration of haemoglobin; HT: haematocrit; RBC: red blood cell count; WBC: white blood cell count, heterophils, eosinophils, basophils, and monocytes. NS: not statistically significant.  
\end{table} 
Table 2: Haematological results of Pekin ducks in the control group and Pekin ducks with short beak and dwarfism syndrome (SBDS). Data are presented as average \(\pm\) standard deviation. Figure 3: Shortened beak and metatarsus of a duck with SBDS. The haematological data indicate a statistically significant increase in white blood cells (WBCs) (\(p<0.006\)) (Figure S3). Haematocrit was higher in the SBDS group vs. the control group, but without a statistically significant difference. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c} \hline \hline
**Organs** & **SBDS Group** & **No. of Figs** \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 4: Histopathology results of Pekin ducks with short beak and dwarfism syndrome (SBDS).