u/zombi3unicorns

i had a clutch of muscovy eggs that hatched august 6th-7th. i always take the babies from the mother the second they’re fluffed up and move them to a brooder to ensure their safety and so they get used to humans fairly early on. two of the 14 eggs did not hatch, so i left them under my hen just in case there was a possibility of them hatching late.

since it had been nearly two weeks, yesterday i decided it was definitely time to remove those eggs from her nest and throw them away. i checked the eggs to make sure they weren't any good and, lo and behold, one of the eggs had pipped!!

now, i know a lot of people believe in letting nature take its course, but i believe that if the ability to intervene exists, then intervention is a part of nature's course. considering it had been nearly two weeks past its due date, i decided to break away at the shell where it had started pipping to see its internal progress. i'm so glad i did because the poor baby was shrink wrapped.

i have dealt with shrink wrapped babies before, so i know how delicate they are and how risky assisting them can be, so i was very gentle and took my time. i got the little one halfway out of the egg and put it in my incubator to allow it to continue absorbing any yolk it hadn't absorbed yet.

today, the little guy is still very low on energy, but i'm hopeful that it will make it because it can hold itself up, peeps very loudly, and jets around every so often.

i don't think it’s meant to be possible for a muscovy egg to hatch nearly two weeks after its due date, so if this isn't proof that anything is possible, i'm not sure what is. i will be naming it miracle. :’)