A couple who hand-reared a day-old duckling before releasing her to the wild were left stunned when she returned to their home six months later - with 11 chicks.<br /><br />Phil Garner, 67, took the tiny mallard under his wing after finding her abandoned on a fishing lake, before bringing her back to his wife Julia Garner, 66, in his coat pocket.<br /><br />The ex-freight train driver said the bird, who they named Freda, was partially potty trained after she came to live in their three-bed house in April 2021.<br /><br />And the couple even took turns sleeping by the “demanding” bird’s bed while feeding her on a £40 diet of grubs until she flew the nest last October.<br /><br />But they were amazed when she then re-appeared on their doorstep in April with a male “boyfriend” duck - who they nicknamed Fred.<br /><br />A few months later, they spotted her coming up their drive with her newly hatched brood of ducklings, who have now once again taken up residence in their garden.<br /><br />Phil said: “Going from one duckling to 11 was chaos. It was like, ‘What do you do with this lot?’ They’re now eight inches long and as fat as butter – fluffy, very fluffy.<br /><br />“They need to swim, they need to wash themselves. So we’ve got tubs everywhere. The garden looks like a bomb site, but I’m not bothered.<br /><br />“It was a bit sad when Freda first went, but at the same time, it was a bit of a relief because she was hard work, very demanding. It was a double-edged sword.<br /><br />“But in the back of my mind, I was expecting her to come back because we were told that they imprint on you for life.”<br /><br />Julia said her husband of 16 years was undergoing agonizing treatment for bladder cancer when he first came across Freda.<br /><br />And she now considers the duck Phil’s “guardian angel” as he was able to focus his energy on caring for her during that difficult period.<br /><br />She said: “I wasn’t right keen on my home becoming a duck sanctuary at first, but we all adapt.<br /><br />"And that year, Phil had three operations for cancer and 15 follow-ups. It’s been a tough time for him, and in some ways, Freda helped him through it. <br /><br />“So she was like his guardian angel. I think she was sent for a purpose.”<br /><br />Phil said he'd been fishing with his son close to their home in Allerton Bywater, near Leeds, on April 1, 2021, when the tiny duck first scuttled up towards them.<br /><br />They tried for hours to find her parents before the grandad of seven took her home after the fishery manager said she would perish if left in the wild.<br /><br />Phil said: “It was freezing cold that day and there was no sign of the mum.<br /><br />“The bloke said: ‘If you leave her here, she’s going to die’. So we brought her home and we thought, ‘What do you do with a day-old duckling?’<br /><br />Phil nursed the chick back to full strength in the comfort of the warm home with Julia's help - letting Freda roam around their front room, kitchen and garden.<br /><br />They also allowed her to swim in a fibreglass pond they'd bought for goldfish - and it wasn’t long before she formed a bond with her rescuers.
