BIRD experts are celebrating 12 very special ducklings which have been bred in Slimbridge for the first time in 20 years.

There are low numbers of African Comb ducks in collections across the UK so staff at the Slimbridge wetland centre decided to use their expertise to try and help boost numbers.

The centre acquired six young birds in 2013 and put four of them (two males and two females) in an exhibit with Lesser Flamingos.

In July Duckery warden Phoebe Young discovered a nest made out of a mixture of feathers, including flamingo ones, with 22 eggs in it.

The amount of eggs would be too many for one female to lay so both females must have laid in the same nest. As it would be impossible for one duck to incubate so many eggs successfully, a decision was taken to hand-rear the eggs to increase chances of survival.

Phoebe said: “The eggs were very fresh, and so I put them in an incubator for a whole week before I candled them. Upon candling I found that some weren’t fertilised.

“These were removed immediately and the remaining 12 eggs were incubated successfully through to hatching.

“It is probable that the infertile ones were laid by one of the two females, who may have been ignored by her male.

“From the 22 eggs we were thrilled to hatch 12 healthy ducklings. Now two weeks on they are looking fantastic and are a joy to watch.”

As African Comb ducks have large differences between the male and female it has already been possible to work out already that there are seven male ducklings and five female.