Wincey the chicken was broody. She had been making quiet clucking sounds for a few days and I'd been crossing my fingers that this meant she was thinking about becoming a mother again. And now she was refusing to come out of the nesting box.
This was good news. We'd recently lost some of our ducks and only had one left. DuckFace had the company of the chickens but would love someone to go swimming with again. I knew, before Wincey became broody, that we'd try for some ducks. Specifically Indian Runner Ducks. The comical and beautiful ducks that don't fly but walk upright, like penguins.
Ebay was my first port of call. And I found a supplier who could send me six fertile duck eggs, mixed colours, within a few days.
They arrived and I took Wincey off her 'in the mean time' eggs (with difficulty, she didn't want to leave them) and replaced those eggs with fertile duck eggs. She took to them immediately. And now the countdown was on. Twenty eight days it takes for a duck egg to hatch - as opposed to the twenty one days for a chicken.
Every day I would take Wincey off the eggs. Sometimes she would come off herself, other times she needed encouraging. For twenty minutes she had freedom. She would shake, dust bathe, stretch and flap her wings, eat, drink and go to the toilet.
It was very hot so I was a bit concerned about her being without a drink for so long so I placed some water next to her in the maternity unit. She was in a separate house to the rest of the flock so she didn't get disturbed or picked on by the rest of the chickens. She loved it when I took her a juicy grape or strawberry.
I was incredibly sceptical that this would work. Not just because the eggs had arrived in the post but also because it's such a hard thing to imagine. That the eggs could be just yolk one day and fully formed ducklings twenty eight days later.
On the twenty eighth day I was an apprehensive wreck. Actually I was apprehensive for a few days beforehand. We moved the maternity unit nearer the house and I would check on her countless times a day. I tried to get her to have a break from the eggs; have a toilet and stretch. But she refused. I had a feeling this was because something was about to happen.
And when I gently moved her away from the eggs (easier said than done) I saw a little hole had been made in one of the shells. I was delighted.
Ducklings take some time to hatch and it soon became dark. Time for bed, to see what will have happened by morning. And, by morning there were two little ducklings. Two little balls of fluff; dark with bright yellow around their face.
I came back from the school run and found one of the ducklings had fallen out of the nesting box. I picked her up, and Wincey came off her nest. There, underneath were another four ducklings! I actually gasped.
One had literally only just hatched. It was not fluffy like the others and was flopping about all over the place. Later it came to me as I was lying on a blanket outside and I picked her up. Such a sweet thing (and yes, I then photographed her in the coffee cup - quickest photoshoot ever!)
Sadly, one died. (Not, I hasten to add, the one I photographed in the cup.) Sometimes these things happen, I guess.
But we still had five ducklings. Mama is being very attentive, and they're keeping cosy in her warm feathers. It's going to be fascinating to see their progress.
