a duck named Goose

Meet Goose.

A month ago I put some of the duck eggs in the incubator and have been misting them with water and checking their heat and humidity several times a day since then.  Their hatch date was last Wednesday, but they didn't hatch.  I thought the three eggs were goners, but in the midst of the flooding-basement saga, Goose began to pip. 

Unfortunately he pipped at the wrong end and was basically breech in his shell, coming out butt-first.  Except that he wasn't really coming out.  After he pipped a hole, he stayed in that spot for a good 12 hours.  The inner membrane was starting to dry out, making it more difficult for him to make progress.  Fearing I would lose him if I didn't intervene, I carefully chipped tiny bits of shell and white membrane off over the course of the next 12 hours, giving him a larger opening from which to escape.

It took a long time, and a little more chipping off of the shell, but eventually escape he did!  He was completely exhausted and weak.  His eyes were still closed and he was attached to his umbilical cord for quite a long time.  I really didn't think he was going to make through the hatch, and I had my doubts he would last the night once he was out.

I was wrong.

It took him some time, but he dried off, stood up, and has been running around like a wild man since.  He still doesn't like his crumble, but he's been eating boiled egg and drinking.  We'll keep working on the crumble.

For someone who had such a rough start in life, he seems pretty advanced.

I mean, just look how good he is already at hide and seek.

And that whole smiling thing?  A natural.

Happy Monday, all.