Where there’s a farmer, there is often a farm cat! A few years ago, one farming couple got the shock of their lives when they found their farm cat Della nursing a flock of newly hatched ducklings.
Ronan and Emma are Irish farmers from Clara, County Offaly, Ireland. The couple was hoping to add to their farm family by purchasing a batch of fertilized duck eggs.
The pair anxiously waited for the ducklings to hatch; they couldn’t wait to welcome them into the world. One day, as they entered the barn to check on them, they were stunned to discover the eggs had cracked. More mysteriously, however, the ducklings were nowhere to be found.
Ronan and Emma were confused. Where could the little ducklings be?
“Within seconds of that [not being able to find the ducklings],” Ronan said, “the cat jumped down from a pigeonhole in the shed over there. And I can put one and one together, I just presumed the cat had swallowed up all the ducklings.”
“Ronan thought there was no hope at all,” his wife added.
Despite fearing the worst, the farmers weren’t about to give up on their search. And, after tearing up the farm for six whole hours, the couple finally found them. The ducklings were beside Della the cat— who also had one in her mouth.
Ronan said, “I was thinking,”Oh no, we’re only getting them back, and now she’s going to eat them right in front of us!”
When Ronan and Emma took a closer look, they were stunned and relieved. Della wasn’t attacking the duckling— she was being very nurturing and kind!
“The three little ducklings waddled straight underneath the cat,” Ronan explained. “The cat laid down on her side, put her paw over one of the ducklings, and was kind of nursing the duckling… It was incredible to see.”
Turns out Della had given birth to a litter of kittens a few hours before finding the ducklings. The maternal hormones running through her body had made her want to adopt her tiny, feathered friends.
When Ronan and Emma leaned in for a closer look, they noticed something even more bizarre. The ducklings were actually suckling Della with their tiny beaks!
In the wild, once hatched, ducklings go off to search for food. In this weird case, it looks like Della’s milk provided them with a quick and easy solution.
Della adopted the ducklings and cared for them until they grew big and strong. Now, even as full-grown duckies, these birdies can’t get enough of their feline mom!
See the amazing video below!
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