Man becomes unlikely surrogate to 8 ducklings

[clairescavys]

Shall I be mother? Man, 50, becomes unlikely surrogate to eight ducklings after injured mum abandoned her eggs

Thought this story and the piccies was so cute, just wanted to share with you all!

Shall I be mother? Man, 50, becomes unlikely surrogate to eight ducklings after injured mother abandoned her eggs | Mail Online

When Ponce Risco noticed a mother duck had abandoned her eggs he decided to take them under his wing.
But the Spanish guesthouse owner from Longton, Staffordshire, didn't quite bargain for the demands eight ducklings can bring.
After watching them hatch and keeping them incubated, the daffy birds now think Mr Risco is their mother and follow him everywhere.
They are kept in a pen during the day but do get to stretch their legs when they accompany Mr Risco on his daily walk to Longton Brickcroft Nature Reserve.





Mr Risco, 50, said: 'They think I'm their mother I think, as long as they can see me they are fine but if I go out of site they start making a noise and panic and huddle together.'
He added: 'I didn't ask for this, I was just trying to help.
'We were here with the eggs and they take an imprint of the first thing they see.'
The babies' mother and father, named Shy and Handsome by Mr Risco, visit his garden every year.

But, in April he realised something was amiss when Shy abandoned her eggs. In a moment of panic Mr Risco, his wife Lisa, 44, and 15-year-old son Lewis, bought a second-hand incubator for the eggs.



They later found Shy injured in a neighbouring garden. And, while she recovered, the family decided to try their hand at looking after the eggs.
They bought a second incubator and soon the eggs began to hatch - leaving the family with eight ducklings.
Mr Risco is currently keeping the ducks inside at night time, in a part of the house that isn't finished yet and in the day time they are outside in a pen.



And, their real mother is still around. Mr Risco built a floating house for Shy on his pond and she sleeps there but tends to wander off during the day.
'Hopefully they will take off soon,' he added.
The family hasn't named the ducklings but they are able to tell a couple of them apart.
Mr Risco concluded: 'They are a bit of a pain but I would do it all over again.
'They have given us so much joy, they are fantastic.'

[McJag]

That is so cute!

[greysfang]

He looks good for 50.

[faithanne]

Cute story and they're doing a great thing but it's weird they can only tell 2 of them apart. Every one of those ducklings has different markings. I'm sure I could tell them all apart after the first day.

[Chalet]

Thank you for this article. I just sent it to my father. That man could be him.

Calling Dad's cell phone........

"Hi Dad, where are you"?

"At the duck pond, sweetie. They're huddling together for a nap".

"Okay, Dad".

[DeadDwarf]

What a sweet story.

[clairescavys]

Cute story and they're doing a great thing but it's weird they can only tell 2 of them apart. Every one of those ducklings has different markings. I'm sure I could tell them all apart after the first day.

I agree Faithanne - there's always certain placed or shaped markings and eye colours that could be used to tell the difference (plus body shapes etc). Used to get that when my friends couldn't tell between my 4 guinea pigs as they did look the same. However, as their 'mum', I always knew which one was which - you just do.

[faithanne]

Hell, my friends can't even tell my 2 cats apart - even though one is a small brown/caramel girl tabby and the other is a big fat silver and black boy tabby.

I was a huge fan of Big Cat Diary and they would make drawings of the cats' markings so when they came back the following season they'd be able to recognise them. The differences were so obvious - once they pointed them out of course!