Dog adopts orphaned ducklings after their mother disappears

It's not every day you hear that a 15-year-old dog has become a father to 15 ducklings. But it’s true! Fred the Labrador stepped in as a foster father for these ducklings whose mother disappeared mysteriously.

Fred and his duck children

The senior dog is definitely an experienced parent to orphaned ducklings as it’s not the first time that he adopted ‘furbabies’. Fred made headlines in 2018 when he stepped into fatherhood by adopting 9 motherless ducklings, as per People magazine.

The ‘duckling dad’ who is a resident of Mountfitchet Castle in Essex, England, welcomed his newest group of ducklings this year after his first adoption. Sadly the 15 ducklings’ mother disappeared from the castle’s ground overnight and was nowhere to be found.

Fatherhood for Fred

Fred loves to cuddle with his 15 adopted children and can often be seen carrying them on his back.

According to the Independent, Fred’s owner and Mountfitchet Castle director Jeremy Goldsmith says it’s not unusual behaviour for the senior dog:

Over the 15 years of owning him, Fred has spent a lot of time at the Castle with the animals and it has become second nature to him being amongst the various rescued animals

The ducklings will be raised with Fred until they’re old enough to leave the castle grounds by themselves.

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