Oliver Woodall with his Saxony duck and the awards

A TEENAGER who started caring for sick ducklings when he was nine years old has gone on to win top prizes at a major poultry show for breeding the best bird.

The son of Teresa and Mark Woodall of Chalet Farm in St John, Oliver, who is a junior member of the Jersey Poultry and Ornithological Society, grew up in a farming environment where his father is herdsman to 280 dairy cows.

Oliver, who is now 15, certainly impressed UK judge Fred Simmonds at the society’s major show, held recently at the Royal Jersey Showground in Trinity, when he saw the beautiful Saxony duck which the teenager had bred. Mr Simmonds decided that this duck was the best of all of the entries, beating 170 other ducks, large fowl and chickens to the title.

Oliver also won a new award and £100 in cash donated by businessman Tom Scott for entering the best bird bred by the owner, as well as two other trophies.

Six years ago, when Oliver’s dad found a family of ducklings in a slurry pit, Oliver, who was then aged nine, took them in and nursed them back to health in a shoe box in his bedroom.

He obtained a small incubator, and since then the Le Rocquier student has taken a big interest in breeding and raising ducks, chickens and bantams and he sells their eggs to help to fund this hobby.

Oliver’s dad, Mark, told the JEP that he and his wife Teresa were very proud of Oliver who seemed to have a special way with birds and animals.

‘Oliver was gobsmacked when he learnt he had won all of those prizes, and he is likely to use the money to buy a bigger incubator,’ he said.

Very fond of all animals and birds, Oliver, who has two sisters, Jessica and Emily, shows two of the cows which his father looks after, and the family have a rescue collie-cross dog.

He doesn’t know yet what he wants to do when he leaves school, but it is certainly likely to involve some creatures great or small.

Society president Collette Bisson said that Oliver had been showing his birds for a couple of years, and this was his best result so far.

‘It’s very encouraging for a junior to win a major award, especially when he is so keen,’ she said.