There is something quite magical about watching a bird hatch from its shell. The first crack begins to appear, quickly becoming a tiny hole through which, you can hear the cheeps of the beautiful creature inside. As the hole expands, a tiny beak appears and carefully pecks away at the shell that has, up until now offered protection from the world. It wiggles and stretches to free itself. It is a beautiful thing to experience first-hand.

Here at Hazel End, we have been extremely fortunate to have been given the opportunity to witness this miracle of life close up. A former team member owns a farm, she set us up with an egg incubator containing fertilised duck eggs and treated us to a brief insight into the first few days of their lives.

The hatching of the eggs was an eagerly anticipated event, we watched closely looking for signs of life. The day finally came, and it had been worth the wait, it was wonderful, truly magical.

Our little friends, Pickle, Donald, Daisy, and Dill were a joy to have around. They were very happy to be petted and were so friendly, they enjoyed swimming around the pool we created for them. They brought us a lot of joy.

It is sad that we couldn’t keep them forever, but a care home is not the ideal setting for them. Our little friends are now happily settled on the farm, and we are receiving regular updates and photographs. They have grown so much already.

We are so grateful to the team here for organising this for us and for allowing us to be there as these beautiful ducklings made their grand entrance into the world, we will never forget it.