What Became of the Duck Egg?

Audrey candled the duck egg she found in the hay field.  Candling is a time-honored method of determining whether or not your eggs are viable--you stand in a dark room and shine a bright light through the egg, to try and see what's going on inside.  The first time Audrey candled the egg, she was thrilled.  As you might remember, this little egg had a rough start.  But the contents of the egg looked just like the photos said a growing baby duck was supposed to look when viewed through a thick calcium shell.

A week or so later, however, discouragement reigned.  The veins we saw the first time had turned into dark blobs; the air pocket was getting bigger.

But Audrey knew she was no expert on candling or on the hatching of duck eggs, so she left the egg in the incubator.  Then, one night at supper, she thought she heard a squeaky little peep.

That's enough to make an animal lover freeze her fork in mid-air and listen again.  She DID hear a squeaky little peep.  Since she had read that ducklings have serious issues if they are raised alone, she peeped back at it.

"But not very much," she told me.  "I would have peeped more but I kept cracking myself up, squeaking encouragement to a duck egg."

Maybe it was a good thing Audrey peeped, since it appears that it is a lot of work to pry oneself out of an egg.

One wing out.

(Thank you Erica, for these great photos!)

Whew!  The whole process took about three hours of stretch and struggle.

Like I mentioned earlier, Audrey read that ducklings don't like to be alone.  This little guy sure didn't.  As soon as he had rested a bit and gained some strength, he peeped and jumped and flopped around his box almost constantly. He calmed down only if Audrey picked him up and held him.

But Audrey has a few other things going on this summer, and can't really be full-time Duck Mama.  She made some phone calls and located a man raising ducks not too far from here.  He has lent Audrey a duckling friend for the summer.

Now Buford and Abernathy--those are their names--live happily in a box on my kitchen floor.  Buford, Audrey's original duckling, hatched on Wednesday of last week.  Abernathy popped out on Friday.

Until they grow up a little, they'll live safely indoors. But when it rains, they get to go outside and play in mud puddles,

Abernathy (left) at 1 day old; Buford at 3 days.  Photo by Audrey.

and splash around with their outlandishly oversized feet.

I just heard Merrill say she's trying to potty train Abernathy, and that it isn't going very well.  Isn't that odd? Stay tuned.........