A duckling as a pet won’t let you down

And, particularly, Billie’s endless cuddles.

Billie is a brand-new Aylesbury duckling, born on September 8.

It is too early to ascertain Billie’s gender.

When the duckling grows, it will either fit the bill of a drake, identified with a curl in his tail, a slightly larger body and a quieter quack.

Or, it will be pond-ering life as a noisier hen with a louder quack and a smaller physique than her male counterparts.

Either way, Billie is blessed, being the one lucky duck from seven eggs that hatched.

Jaz’s stepdad, Trav Laby, brought the duck eggs from their farm to the family of four’s residential Shepparton home to incubate.

He had hatched duck eggs once before and wanted to share the experience with his partner, Katrina Bell, and kids Jaz and Jordan McDonald.

“Trav incubated eggs 13 months ago and successfully hatched three hens and one drake,” Jaz said.

“It’s the first time hatching eggs for me and Mum.

“We have more duck eggs in the incubator now, so Billie will be sure to have more siblings soon.”

Besides a wing and a prayer, survival success relies on fertility and the quality of the incubator.

Jaz remembers the excitement of watching Billie’s egg jiggle and then finding the newborn bird peering out at her in the morning. It was day 26 of incubation.

“He was very wobbly on his feet and would fall over, but within eight hours he was standing strong and became very active and was pecking at the incubator when we went to look and chirping loudly,” Jaz said.

“It was like it was saying let me out.”

She said ducklings had to stay in the incubator for at least 24 hours after hatching to dry out.

“They don't need food or water in that time; they get all the nutrients they need from the egg yolk in their abdomen,” Jaz said.

“The first time I held it, it put its head on my chest and went to sleep.”

Jaz said Billie’s favourite thing to do was cuddle. It’s also one of Jaz’s favourite things to do with Billie. The other is putting the duckling on the floor and watching it lovingly follow her around.

“Our duck loves lots of attention and is very cute and cuddly,” Jaz said.

“Mum brought it to school in a basket with a hot water bottle to keep it warm so I could show my friends. They all loved it.”

While Billie is little and growing, it will stay protected, living inside at the family’s Shepparton home; no ducking for cover when the weather outside is good weather for, ironically, ducks.

Billie shares the space with the family’s Maltese shih tzu, Ruby, and kelpie, Milo, who only joined the crew last weekend.

Even at 11 days old, Billie is still not the newest member of the growing family.

“The dogs are very curious about Billie and like to look at him in his enclosure,” Jaz said.

The peeking duck looks back and likes to peck at their noses if they get too close.

Other endearing personality traits are emerging as Billie finds its place and quack.

“It chirps very loudly when we leave the room or hears us come home,” Jaz said.

While the sound might eventually get a bit much to take, especially if Billie ends up a louder hen and not a quieter drake, it won’t disturb the peace in town for too long.

“Billie will most likely go to live at the farm when it is big enough, where it will have company of other ducks and chickens and a dam to swim in,” Jaz said.

“It will be happiest living on the farm with other ducks and animals for company.”

In six to eight weeks, Billie will lose the fluff and grow its trademark Aylesbury white feathers and down.

Like its parents at the farm, Billie won’t be a flying duck.

It will be fully grown at around seven months of age.

That is also the age they begin to demonstrate breeding behaviours, or, to fit in one more pun, shake a tailfeather.

Pretty impressive, really — imagine only needing seven months to get all your ducks in a row like that!