Charli Lello, 29, decided to incubate duck eggs from Clarence Court while she was on leave from her position as assistant retail manager due to the coronavirus.
"I had the idea for a video that appeared on my Facebook feed of someone hatching quail eggs," she told CNN.
"It was my original plan, but while I was at Waitrose, I saw the duck eggs and thought they might work too. Mom and I briefly talked about finding ducks after locking it anyway.
"Part of me thought it would never work, none of the quail eggs developed but after 6 days in the incubator, I checked the duck eggs and I could see veins and a very little wavy embryo. Then the excitement started. "
"I spent the entire two days that Beep hatched glued to my incubator. Fortunately, I had friends on the phone to keep me calm. He was a lonely chick for two days, so I had to make a small scarf with a hat and carry it around until Peep hatched. Meep joined a week later. "
Lello, who also raises chickens, plans to keep the ducklings in his house in Hertfordshire, north of London, until they are completely feathered, and then move them to live outside with his chickens. .
She said it was "a great feeling" but anyone wishing to do the same should do their research and make sure they have the right configuration and space to care for the ducks - and a back-up plan.
Waitrose said in a statement to CNN that it was only on "rare" occasions that an egg sold in its supermarkets would be fertilized.
The high-end supermarket said that because it was "notoriously difficult to identify the sex of white feathered ducks," males sometimes ended up with groups of females, and there were also rare cases where a wild duck (female) meets a farmed drake (male).
He said that without incubation, fertilized eggs "cannot be distinguished from normal eggs" when eaten.
Clarence Court said in a statement provided to CNN that its eggs were moving from the farm to the packing center to the supermarket depot to be stored, so "it is a feat of remarkably slim chance that a duckling hatched."
"The production of duck eggs is a very small industry, and the separation of males from females is entirely based on the skills of very few qualified people."
Unlike commercial laying hens, for example, laying ducks are all white feathered and similar in size when grown. "Most drakes can be spotted with a small loop on the tail feathers, although not all drakes have this visual marker.
"The production of duck eggs is a very small industry, and the separation of males from females is entirely based on the skills of very few qualified people."
Unlike commercial laying hens, for example, laying ducks are all white feathered and similar in size when grown. "Most drakes can be spotted with a small loop on the tail feathers, although not all drakes have this visual marker.
"Our ducks are kept in small flocks with access to the outdoors every day. In this outdoor environment, although it is infrequent, our ducks can attract the attention of wild drakes. It is very unusual for men and women to come into contact with each other, it is not impossible. "
