Beards can be a little bit love or hate.
This one, however, provided a whole lot of love for one not-so-ugly little duckling.
In an amazing series of images, one
Reddit user has shared how his facial fuzz helped the baby bird in its crucial first few weeks of life.
The man explained that he failed in his first attempt to hatch chicken eggs, but it turned that out one of the eggs was a duck egg and ducks, it seems, are hardier creatures.
And so, a remarkable relation ship begun.
He realised that ducks are social creatures, so planned to spend some quality time with the duckling, whom he named Peeps.
He decide to keep Peeps' bed next to his own for a while
Since Peeps didn't have a mother's wind to shelter under, the man offered up his beard.
A towel was also necessary, as Peeps needed to poop. A lot.
Peeps rewarded his kindness with the odd peck on the cheek.
Now and again, Peeps opted for a better view.
By day 41, Peeps was too big for the beard
Instead, Peeps now likes to opt for a shoulder, for some quality TV time.

Peeps' owner still hasn't determined if his friend is male or female, explaining that he is waiting for the tail feathers to come in but that will take another month to six weeks. And the happy pair are set to expand the family; the man added that he has three more duck eggs incubating, so Peeps will have some friends in time for spring.