William Atkins, aged 14, bought some Waitrose free-range duck eggs and wondered if a supermarket egg would actually hatch. So, he placed it in an incubator (which would provide the correct conditions for the egg to grow), and after three days, when he shone a torch on the egg, he could see a heart beating inside!

Then, just three weeks later, William checked the incubator and saw the egg rocking about, then to see that a small beak was pecking through the egg shell! A duckling emerged from the egg and William was amazed.

William Atkins loves anything to do with wildlife, and he had previously tried the same experiment with a quail’s egg, but nothing happened.

I think that it is really cool how a 14 year old could do something like this, because it seemed quite difficult to keep an animal alive, but I wouldn’t advise anyone else to do anything like this, because it may cause harm to the duck and also it would be a waste of eggs!

By Eva, Year 7