AN unusually large clutch of 18 duckling mallards has been born in Silkstone.
They were found nesting under a tree in a greenhouse belonging to the Horsfield family. The Horsfield’s kept them in their house to feed and protect them from foxes but released them into Silkstone beck on Sunday.
Emma Horsfield said: “When they hatch we usually keep them in a cardboard box but with this clutch there were just too many.”
The ducklings are now being mothered not by their maternal mother but by a goose which also swims in the beck.
Anna Sugrue from the RSPB said: “The average clutch size of a mallard is 10-12 but can be as little as seven or as many as 16. Eighteen is a very large clutch size.” She added it is common for other birds to parent the ducklings.
