The Silkie hen whose first baby was a duck

Name: The Silkie hen whose first baby was a duck
Uploaded: 2020-11-21T15:38:08Z
Duration: 11 min 20 s
Description: The fluffy Silkie hen at the center of this family began as an abandoned egg that Alwyn Wils hatched himself. Now she is the one doing the hatching.

The fluffy Silkie hen at the center of this family began as an abandoned egg that Alwyn Wils hatched himself. Now she is the one doing the hatching. more

Alwyn, who runs A Chick Called Albert, takes in birds and other small animals of every shape and size. When his hen settled onto a clutch of eggs that would never hatch, he swapped them for a mix of eggs in his care that still might.

One of them did hatch under her, and it wasn't a chick. It was a duckling. Bird-savvy fans took one look and called him a wood duck, a wild American bird that people rarely see raised at home.

The hen didn't seem to mind one bit. She mothered him like any chick, and fans loved how calmly she looked at him and took him as her son. In one small moment, she plucks a stray bit of hay off the duckling's beak, the way any mom fusses over a messy face.

A small, fluffy chick with an orange beak and dark eyes held indoors under natural daylight. The headline runs in white letters across the lower third. — The fluffy Silkie hen at the center of this family began as an abandoned egg that Alwyn Wils hatched himself.

The two grew close and hardly leave each other's side. Even as he grew up, he stayed with her, which one fan compared to an adult son who refuses to move out.

Later, Alwyn gave the hen a second clutch, this time eggs that could hatch. Fans noticed that she didn't peck or fight him as he made the swap. She let it happen with a grumpy little squeak, and some wondered if she remembered how her last batch turned out.

One egg fell behind the others, so Alwyn helped it along by hand, gently coaxing the chick out of its shell. One fan admitted they never would have known to dampen the shell.

A hand holds a small brush near a small object on a white textured surface, with another stick nearby. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third. — When one egg lags behind, Alwyn steps in with a small brush.

In the end, all six eggs hatched. These babies weren't chickens either. Several fans spotted them as guinea fowl keets, tiny birds with striped heads, and one of them rests in a soft heap of white down.