Boston (AP)  -- For the past few weeks, two New England Aquarium biologists have been mothering a 22-ounce Little Blue Penguin that was rejected by its parents.

And their work goes beyond the typical 9-to-5.

Caitlin Hume and Heather Urquhart take turns bringing the baby penguin home with them -- providing nightly feedings of a herring-and-krill formula.

Last month, the penguin team noticed an egg was about a week overdue from its normal 38-day term. They found the chick inside was still developing, so they essentially induced the it to hatch by slowing chipping away tiny bits of shell.

When the biologists tried to give the bird back to his parents to raise it normally, they rejected the baby.

Urquhart, who manages the penguin exhibit, admits to a little separation anxiety when it's Hume's turn to take the chick home.