Ducklings!

Spring feels like hatching, that is what I have learned this week. We started to notice the first "pips" on a few of the duck eggs this week.

When poultry hatch from their eggs they first start to breath from a small air sack in the egg. Then they begin to peck at the shell around them creating the first sign of life from the outside: a pip or small whole or protrusion on the egg.

With the first visible signs of life Lovett eagerly awaited the arrival of her first ducklings.

We watched the progress through the window of the incubator now turned "hatcher" and hour by hour the pip got larger and larger. Then we could see the energetic pecking and prodding of a tiny duck beak through the hole in the egg.

Much like the mix of disappointment and excitement of having to go to bed on Christmas eve knowing what you might find the next morning we headed to bed wondering what the morning would bring.

Reminiscent of Christmas, Lovett was up at 5 am the next morning and burst into our room to announce not one, but two ducklings had fully hatched and a third one was making progress. 

So often as a parent I have the joy of watching Lewis and Lovett experience something for the first time, riding a bike or reading their first word. This time my heart was racing as much as Lovett's. I had never seen a bird hatch from an egg before and it was pretty inspiring to watch. And these were birds from eggs we gathered from our farm and tended for 28 days.

As we set the lid back on the hatcher we watched the ducklings lie down in the warmth and go to sleep. The exertion of hatching was clearly huge and now it was time to rest.

Racey and I looked at each as if to say perhaps we need to do the same.

We have welcomed 4 new staff in the last few weeks and we are preparing for our first chicken harvest tomorrow. I look forward to sharing many stories and introductions in the weeks to come.

-Nathan