HATCH OF THE DAY!
Couple put rescued egg in oven... and out pops a duckling
There once was an unhatched duckling, forlorn in its egg on the ground.
But fortunately, the little orphan was stumbled upon by Will hall during an afternoon stroll near his home – where it was later hatched in an oven.
Mr hall, 26, decided to take the abandoned egg home with him after struggling to find its nest in the grass. he rang his partner Alice Kendall, 22, who quick as a flash preheated the oven and set up a makeshift incubator by placing a tea towel on a baking tray ready for their arrival.
The pair remained hopeful as they nervously kept watch over the egg. Two hours later – to their delight – the shell cracked open and a duckling emerged. Now wonderfully fluffy, it’s a welcome addition for the couple, who only started living together in Winchester, hampshire, at the beginning of lockdown. But deciding on a name is proving to be one source of tension, with Mr hall suggesting Sergeant Fluffy, and events coordinator Miss Kendall preferring a somewhat more elegant option, river.
Mr hall, a teacher, said they enlisted the help of Miss Kendall’s father, a former poultry farmer. ‘he told us to keep it warm at 32 degrees Celsius, but our oven only starts at 50, so we had to keep turning it on and off with the door open to make sure it was around 30,’ Mr hall said. ‘The duckling follows us around everywhere. It is such a sweet little thing, Alice is thrilled to bits. She loves cuddling it and it’s certainly made her broody.’
Mr hall, who thinks the egg must have been moved by a dog or fox, said he will take the orphan to a rescue centre or duck pond when it is big and strong enough.