A couple who hand-reared a day-old duckling before releasing it into the wild were stunned when they returned to their home six months later with 11 ducklings.
Phil Garner, 67, of West Yorkshire, took the little mallard under his wing after finding it abandoned by a fishing lake before returning it in his coat pocket to his wife Julia Garner, 66.
The former freight train driver said the bird, who they named Freda, was partially potty trained after she moved into her triple home in April 2021.
And the pair even took turns sleeping at the “demanding” bird’s bed and feeding her a 40-pound diet of maggots until she flew from the nest last October.
But they were stunned when she reappeared on their doorstep in April with a male “friend” duck – who they named Fred -.
Phil Garner, 67, and his wife Julia, who hand-reared a day-old duckling before releasing it into the wild, were stunned when they returned to their home six months later with 11 ducklings.
A few months later they saw her coming up the driveway with her newly hatched ducklings who had now settled back into her garden.
Phil said, “Going from one duckling to eleven was chaos.” It was like, “What are you doing with that crowd?” They’re eight inches long now and as fat as butter – fluffy, very fluffy.
“They have to swim, they have to wash themselves.” So we have tubs everywhere. The garden looks like a bomb site, but that doesn’t bother me.
“It was a bit sad when Freda was there for the first time, but at the same time it was also a small relief because she worked hard and was very demanding.” It was a double-edged sword.
“But in the back of my mind I was expecting them to come back because we were told they leave a mark on you for life.”
Julia said her husband, to whom she was married for 16 years, was undergoing agonizing treatment for bladder cancer when he first met Freda.
And she now considers the duck to be Phil’s “guardian angel” as he was able to focus his energies on taking care of her during this difficult time.
She said, “At first I wasn’t particularly keen on making my home a duck sanctuary, but we’re all adapting.”
Philip, from Castleford in West Yorkshire, hand bred an abandoned duck they named Freda (pictured)
The couple hand-reared the day-old duckling, feeding it maggots before releasing it into the wild
“And that year Phil had three cancer surgeries and 15 follow-ups. It was a tough time for him and in a way Freda helped him through it.
“So she was like his guardian angel.” I think she was sent for a reason.’
Phil said he was fishing with his son near their home in Allerton Bywater, near Leeds, on April 1, 2021 when the little duck first darted towards them.
They spent hours trying to find her parents before the grandfather of seven took her home after the fisheries manager said she would die if left in the wild.
Phil said: “It was freezing cold that day and there was no sign of the mother.”
“The guy said, ‘If you leave her here, she’s going to die.'” So we brought her home and thought, ‘What do you do with a day-old duckling?’
Phil, with Julia’s help, nursed the chick back to full strength in the comfort of the warm home and let Freda run around the living room, kitchen and garden.
They also allowed her to swim in a fiberglass pond they bought for goldfish – and it didn’t take long for her to bond with her rescuers.
Phil said, “She either slept in a box, at your feet, or under the coffee table.”
“But one of us had to sleep downstairs or she would start screaming and crying. We taught her to use towels.
“She sat on my shoulder and on my desk while I worked on the computer.” She was so loving.’
Phil said Freda suddenly left home last fall after spending a couple of weeks yelling at other ducks she could hear at a local lake.
And the couple believed that was the last time they saw her until April 3 of this year when she walked up the driveway again with her “boyfriend” Fred.
Freda with Julia at the age of one week. Freda has had to partially use the potty after moving into the triple home in April 2021
Freda felt right at home in the couple’s triple home near Leeds and even slept in Phil’s slippers
Freda knew a perfect safe place for her little ducklings – in a lavender bush near her old home
Ducks apparently leave their mark on their parents for life – so perhaps it wasn’t so surprising that Freda returned home
Freda and her brood – she was rescued as a day-old chick after being orphaned and has lived a happy life ever since
Phil said the lovebirds spent a few months together before Freda suddenly disappeared and her ‘lost’ partner had to fly away without her.
But two days later, she emerged from a neighbor’s lavender bush with a bouquet of little ducklings who now live in Phil and Julia’s garden.
Phil said, “We looked out the front window one morning and saw the little ducklings waddling towards us.” They’ve stopped here ever since.
“We let them in the fish pond in the front yard, but we dug a separate pond in the back and feed them cornmeal, worms, maggots and Weetabix.”
“You can hear them say ‘beep, beep’ when they want to eat or when the mother leaves, but they’re pretty quiet.”
Phil expects the ducks to stay with them for a few more months but is willing to house them in a nearby pond if they don’t go back into the wild.
He added, “We expect her to fly away and go back to where she was before and the ducklings will just follow her and do their own thing.”
“If not, there’s a good fishing pond near us that’s surrounded by a fence to keep the foxes out.”