Wahlstrom decided to order six duck eggs instead of chicken eggs to do something different than what she had been doing over the last seven years.

“I mean, who doesn’t want ducklings?” she said.

Before she even ordered the eggs, she asked around and was able to find a farm that would be willing to take in the ducks that her class hatched. Ensuring that the baby ducks went to a good home was first and foremost for Wahlstrom.

“I don’t recommend hatching eggs before having a plan because, obviously, we want to make sure that they get to continue on somewhere,” Wahlstrom said.

Duckling named Sunny hatched from its egg on Tuesday.

Unable to find any around the Minot area, she ordered the duck eggs from online and they were shipped to North Dakota from Texas.

Wahlstrom had ordered a new incubator this year with a clearer plastic. Her class named it Mama Duck, as it would help the ducklings hatch, just like a mother duck would sit on her eggs to keep them warm.

She wanted her students to be able to see the eggs more clearly, as her other incubator’s plastic is slightly cloudy.

As soon as the eggs arrived, they immediately went into the incubator. It is usually said that duck eggs take around 28 days to hatch from the day they begin incubation.

By day 28, only one of the six eggs had what is called a pip hole. It shows where the duckling pecked its way through the shell in one small spot. From there, it continued moving and cracking the shell.

Sunny sits on a book.

During those four long weeks, the students were not allowed to handle the eggs, except to rarely “candle” them, shining a flashlight through the egg. The purpose of candling is to check for signs of life.

If there are no signs of life or a pip hole in the shell by the end of the incubation period, Wahlstrom said it is more likely than not that the eggs will not hatch.

She also mentioned there is a chance eggs that turned dark could go bad and explode. Having that knowledge, she plugged in her second incubator just in case she felt it necessary to separate the one good egg, preventing it from potentially being contaminated.

Wahlstrom’s children and her class mutually decided to name one of the ducklings Sunny, because it would make the kids smile and make them happy, like the sun.

They were extremely excited to know the next day that one of their little ducklings had hatched only about 15 minutes after they had left school on Tuesday.

Ciara Parizek/MDN Sunny, the duckling, did not appreciate being put back in its enclosure, chirping for attention and seeming to ask to be held by Perkett Elementary School teacher Shila Wahlstrom on Wednesday.

After Sunny hatched, Wahlstrom took the duckling home in a little container with holes cut in it for the night to make sure it stayed healthy.

When she took the duckling to the school with her, it did not like spending time in the enclosure made from a plastic tote, small animal bedding, food and water containers and some toys. According to Walstrom, its favorite toy is a stuffed bear.

Sunny wanted to be held. The duckling made all sorts of racket, even going so far as to try to jump out of the enclosure. During a good portion of the day, the duckling spent its time nuzzled into the neck of Wahlstrom’s shirt while she taught her class.

By popular vote of her class, it is more than likely that Wahlstrom will bring duck eggs into her class again next year, as well.

Ciara Parizek/MDN Stevin Iverson holds Sunny, the duckling, after the class had cupcakes for his birthday party on Wednesday at Perkett Elementary School.