Pet duck becomes Aspinwall celebrity

An unexpected friendship between a boy and his pet duck is causing a splash in Aspinwall.

Steven Hu, 11, is raising a 1-month-old call duckling he named Aspinwall.

“I was considering Joe for a name,” Steven said.

Aspinwall doesn’t wear a leash and follows Steven around everywhere. The family said folks often do a double-take when Steven ventures outside with Aspinwall for daily walks around the borough.

“We let Aspinwall walk outside for growth of his bones and feathers. He always follows us,” said Dong Hu, Steven’s dad.

Steven said there are three kinds of people he’s encountered while out in public with Aspinwall.

“There’s the people that walk away, there’s the people who ask lots of questions, and there’s the kind of people who say, ‘cool’,” Steven said.

The duck is the first pet for the Hu family, said mom Risheng Chen. “I thought we would have a dog or cat, but no.”

Chen said she never dreamed the family would adopt a duck, but when a local Chinese family had a surplus of freshly hatched ducklings, the Hus adopted Aspinwall.

Steven, a sixth-grader at Dorseyville Middle School, said Aspinwall appears to be settling into a routine.

On assignment with a friendly pet duckling making a splash in Aspinwall! ⁦@FoxChapelHerald⁩ ⁦@TribLIVE⁩ ⁦@VNDNews⁩ pic.twitter.com/4SCyMpXHNd

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On April 30, Aspinwall attended his biggest social function to date, the Community Safety Event hosted by the borough.

Call ducks were originally bred in Great Britian to aid in hunting, as their quacks would attract wild ducks. They are used as pets and barnyard companions now.

The smallest of the duck breeds, call ducks are known to have a lot of energy, are friendly and compact in size. Their call is high pitched.

“People ask about how he’ll look when he’s grown,” Steven said.

Call ducks weigh in at around 18 to 22 ounces when fully grown. Their life expectancy is about a decade, double of the average domesticated duck, Chen said.

Rylee Mancini, 7, of Aspinwall had encounter with the duckling at the Community Safety Event.

“I thought he was fuzzy and cute,” said Mancini of Aspinwall.

Aspinwall Mayor Joe Noro said on May 3 that he’d heard about Aspinwall, but had yet to meet him. Noro confirmed Aspinwall is permitted to legally reside with the Hus in the borough.

Aspinwall’s diet primarily consists of a duck starter-grower grain feed. Additionally, he enjoys noshing on spinach and lettuce, Hu said.

“My son has a really good relationship with Aspinwall. Aspinwall always wants to follow him and play,” Hu said.

The family said they will not get Aspinwall’s wings clipped or have him neutered.

“We believe Aspinwall will know the way home when he flies. He loves his home so much,” Hu said.

The family said they keep their eyes to the skies for hawks or birds of prey when they take Aspinwall outside.

“That’s the only thing we worry about with Aspinwall — a hawk,” Chen said.