CRISPIE duck isn’t on the menu at The Mill at Gordleton.

But it’s to be found in the bar, in the lounge, in the hall, in the garden... in fact, anywhere manager Terri Seabright goes.

Terri has been “mum” to Crispie ever since she was a day-old hatchling ignored by an uncaring mother duck that just didn’t want to know about the ball of fluff waddling in her wake.

Concerned about the little Aylesbury duckling’s fate, Terri took her home and popped her in the bath. She feared the worst. But the next morning Crispie, as she was about to become, was cheeping merrily in the tub.

That was August 2007. Today, Crispie is a feature at the The Mill in Silver Street, Hordle.

Everyone who visits is simply quackers about her.

“We have ladies who phone to book tables and they only book tables if she’s here,” said Terri.

Crispie has her own website page (themillatgordleton.co.uk) and has featured in two calendars to raise money for First Opportunities playgroup along the road at Ashley.

The owner of The Mill, Liz Cottingham, said: “Crispie is a very welcome guest and our Crispie calendars are going brilliantly. They’ve made £620 this year and we did it last year as well and raised £550.”

Terri had to teach Crispie to swim properly.

“I put her in the bath and she swam backwards, and we corrected that,” she said.

Now she has her own pond in Terri and husband Mike’s garden at Holbury in the New Forest’s Waterside area.

“I bring her to work every day in my car and she travels in a cat basket,” she said.

“She’s really is a pet. She’s more like a little dog than a duck. She likes little walks and we’ve taken her out across the forest for a little wander.”

When she gets to The Mill in the morning, she has a routine which includes checking out the interior before she goes out in the garden.

Despite the temptation at the bar, Crispie is teetotal and doesn’t duck and dive in the millstream, unless Terri is there to keep an eye on her.

And she is boss at home. “I have two cats. She told them off a couple of times and they leave her alone,” said Terri.

So is there a downside to having a duck indoors?

“She does make a mess. We tried to litter train her but we couldn’t. That was impossible.

“Every night when she goes to bed she has iceberg lettuce, and she’s very good at de-slugging my garden.

“She lays an egg every day. That’s my little thank-you, I think,” said Terri.