A mum is smitten after three eggs she bought from Morrisons hatched - and now she has pet ducklings. Deza Empson, 31, bought six Braddock-White Clarence Court eggs at the supermarket and on a whim put them in an incubator she bought on Amazon to breed budgies.
She was shocked when just five days later she shone a light and could see little ducklings developing inside some of the eggs. The little chicks began pecking their way out of their shells three weeks later - with River and Dusk arriving first, followed by Daisy a day later.
The trio love nothing more than a splash in the bath, and Daisy has grown so attached to Deza she follows her around, snuggling on her shoulder. She plans to keep Daisy, but River and Dusk will go to live with her cousin.
Mum-of-three Deza from Redcar, Yorkshire, said: "They're lovely. It's so crazy. They just follow me everywhere. When I first saw them move I could hardly believe it. I was like, 'oh my god. I'm getting ducks!' My bond with Daisy is really special.
"She cries for me all the time. I think she's so attached to me because I had to help her and she hatched last. I can't imagine now that somebody else could have bought and eaten her."
Deza was testing her new incubator to ensure the temperature was constant, and to check she could see inside the eggs, before using it to help her breeding budgies. She had seen a TikTok video where someone tested an incubator with supermarket duck eggs, so used five, discarding one which was cracked.
Deza saw veins developing in four of the duck eggs after five days, and then began to see the little shapes of ducklings growing - and beginning to move. One of the developing chicks failed after a couple of weeks, so Deza took it out of the artificial nest.
They hatched on June 11 and 12. The hatchlings now all sleep upstairs and Deza has to pop her hand over the little cage when the duckling calls out.
She said Daisy squeaks and wiggles her tail whenever she sees her human 'mum'. Daisy snuggles on Deza's neck, nibbling her hair while she is watching TV or cooking.
Deza believes her new little yellow pets are Aylesbury ducks and will turn white. But as much as she loves the ducks, Deza admitted the constant cleaning up of duckling poop is a bit of a challenge.
Deza said: "They're so lovely, but it just wasn't what I expected at all. Eggs you buy from the supermarket just shouldn't be fertile. My nan loves duck eggs and she won’t touch them any more now she knows they might be alive, and friends I’ve told don’t ever want to eat eggs again."
