Our rare breed chicks arrive at Mary Arden's Farm as eggs, are hatched out in their luxurious heated incubator, after which they spend a very comfortable, company filled few weeks eating, sleeping and growing at an alarming rate.
Once out of that fluffy 'Awwwww, look how cute they are' phase, they are returned to their farm for breeding purposes, as these are all rare breeds.
This has been the norm at the farm since it opened, so we are all very used to it, which might explain why nobody noticed when instead of a chick, a duckling hatched from one of the latest batch of eggs.
The chicks embraced the duckling as one of their own, so he/she spent 3 days living amongst its chick brothers and sisters before anyone noticed. Once spotted, since they were all getting on 'swimmingly' there seemed no reason to break up the happy family; so there the duckling remained.
When it came time to go back to the farm, there was some debate about keeping the duckling, but it was decided the chicks were now his/her family, so it would have been cruel to separate them.
We wish them all the best in their new home!