A St Austell mum has become best friends with a rain-fearing duck hatched from a Morrisons egg.

Chloe Greenwood, 35, bought a six pack of free-range eggs from the supermarket and put them in an incubator.

She had a hunch one egg might be fertilised - which proved to be correct. Buddy was then born nine months ago - and the pair are now inseparable.

Chloe, a former care worker from St Austell, said: "She's absolutely wonderful - she's one of the family. We all love her so much."

The female bird - which Chloe initially thought was born a boy - loves being with the family, playing with toys and going out for walks with the dogs.

But ironically, Buddy hasn't taken like a duck to water. "She doesn't like the rain, which is funny for a duck,” said Chloe.

"She's so sociable. She goes to greet the postman every day.

“One of the loveliest things is when she stands on one leg with her head resting on the sofa and falls asleep.

"She likes watching ducks on YouTube, and we play a game where she chases my finger along the sofa.

"She needs lots of attention, but she's also happy to sit on the sofa and chill with me.”

Buddy is let out with cockapoos Tilly and Lexi every morning and comes in again each night for her dinner.

She plays in the doggy paddling pool and roams free in the half-acre garden, tapping on the window if she's ready to come in.

Buddy hovers around her owner when she's cooking, occasionally pecking at her feet or the bottoms of her trousers if it's time for a tasty treat of blueberries, peas or veg ends.

And when Chloe feeds the dogs, the duck won't be left out, trying to muscle her way in to grab a mouthful.

Chloe - mum to Aidan, 11 - hatched Buddy in early September after buying a box of Clarence Court Braddock Whites eggs for £2 from her local Morrisons in August.

She wanted to hatch one after seeing a similar video on social media, and friends bought her an incubator for a birthday.

"I was determined to hatch-out an egg, I love animals so much,” said Chloe. “She fluffed up within hours of being born, and she was just a few inches big.

"It was so lovely watching her snuggle up to her beanie-baby chick from day one. It's been the most incredible experience.”

Buddy learned her name within four months, and taught Chloe special quacks.

"If she's quacking really rapidly and bobbing her head that means she's hungry,” said Chloe, adding that a lower-pitched quack and stooping down means she wants to go out.

Buddy lived in a little plastic box with a heat mat for six weeks after she hatched, then slept in Chloe's room.

But at four months she became noisy at night because she began nesting, so Chloe popped her little bed just outside the door.

"When she was very little she followed me everywhere,” said Chloe. “If I got up to leave the room she'd be running so fast to keep up.

"I'm put off supermarket eggs now, because it was so lovely watching the whole incubation process - it would just feel weird and wrong for me to eat them now.

"She's just amazing!"

Egg producer Stonegate said: “Our ducks are kept in small flocks with access to the outdoors every day. In this open-air environment, while it is infrequent, our ducks may attract the attention of wild drakes.

"So, whilst it is very unusual for males and females to come into contact with one another, it is not impossible.

“Fertilised eggs are completely harmless to eat and without incubation, would be totally indistinguishable from unfertilised eggs.

"Ultimately, with an egg that has travelled from our farm to the home via our packing centre, the supermarket depot and store network, it is a feat of remarkably slim odds that a duckling has been hatched.

"But we acknowledge that it’s not impossible.”