dissection, no ducklings

We thought none of the eggs would hatch that we had under the incubator, so yesterday, we took them outside and I dissected one of them, wearing rubber gloves, of course. I used a fine-toothed saw to cut a ring around one end of the egg. Then, using the back of the saw, I tapped all around the ring. I was able to pull the cut part off easily. Dad and I passed the egg back and forth between us, cracking small bits of shell off. All the while, we had been listening and trying to feel movement but felt none. When we had it de-shelled, I used an exacto knife to cut a bit of the inner lining. Egg yolk oozed out; the little duckling was supposed to absorb that into him in the last two days before hatching. I cut more and was able to peel off the lining completely. There was a little, pale yellow duckling. He was nearly fully formed. His little head was tucked between his legs.

I ended up tossing that duckling and all of his paraphernalia into the pond; the catfish will have a nice meal of that. The other three eggs, however, I just couldn’t stand throwing out or dissecting. I put them back in the incubator and decided to give them two days to prove themselves.

When I woke up this morning, Dad told me we had no more ducklings. He said he watched the two rouens and our white drake come out from under the porch this morning but no little yellow fuzzball followed. He got down and checked under the porch but the duckling wasn’t there. He apparently got eaten in the night or killed by something.