Yesterday was day 32 for our duck eggs. Normally they hatch in 28-30 days. So pulled them out of the incubator and set aside in a bowl. A friend had 3 dozen eggs she wanted hatched this month so I had to ready the incubator. Sometime around 3pm I heard peeping coming from the kitchen. I looked in the bowl and sure enough an egg was trying to open. I assisted the duckling only to get air. The membrane was drying out and the duckling was a fighter. By late last night the duckling emerged from the shell chirping loudly. I put the rest of the eggs back in the incubator. Today a second one is hatching. I am learning how to candle eggs and be more patient waiting. Sometimes it takes longer than we can predict on the calendar. I was thinking about naming this duckling Monty from the Monty Python, The Holy Grail. There is a scene where the towns people are collecting the dead from a plague and one character is not dead. He yells out,"I'm still here, I'm happy, I'm not dead yet". I figure that is what this duckling has gone through as well.
