We candled tonight and discovered eight bouncing baby call duck embryos. The eggs have been incubating for just about a week and they look fabulous. I was previously warned that call ducks are extremely hard to hatch and that you have to have the temperature and humidity just right. So far, the experts have been right and I've been going crazy trying to regulate everything. I really hope all our hard work pays off and we have babies around the 17th.

The dark splotch is the embryo and the red wormy things are veins. The "X" on the shelf is to help me determine if they have been "turned" yet. You have to turn the little buggars several times a day in order that the embryo doesn't affix itself to the interior of the shell. This can cause major deformaties and problems for the embryo.

Another shot of the same egg. Notice that really dark dot? I believe that's an eyeball.

Call ducks were originally bred as live decoys. With a super loud "quack" they would "call" the wild ducks in for hunters (hence the name "call ducks"). They are quite a bit smaller than normal ducks but their quack is even louder than a normal duck. If you'd like to learn more about call ducks, visit here.

We'll be periodically candling the eggs and I'll post pics as they *hopefully* progress.