I had the hardest experience last night. i was examining the broodies eggs for any signs of hatching. In the back of the nest there was an egg with no shell and just membrane. I thought it was dead and picked it up and some yolk leaked out of a huge tear. I was about to rid of it and then... it kicked. i had no idea how old the duckling was and i knew there was no chance it would survive. I held the kicking membrane in the egg and let it die in my hands. When i did an eggtopsy(not really because i knew how it died) i found a beautiful cayuga duckling about three days until hatch.... egg tooth and all. it looked so peaceful and we buried it outside the run. It was hard to watch it die in my hands but there was no way in the world it would have made it.
OMG, that sounds aweful... Wow.