Dudley Arrives

April 19, 2001

10:03 a.m.

The pictures show a time lapse of about 2 hours. The egg pipped and cracked at 8:00 a.m. Dudley worked for ten minutes at a time, then rested. He used his beak and feet to kick out of the shell. it took about five hours in the incubator to dry before putting him in the brooders box.

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Dudley pipping the egg shell.

Making a zipper to get out.

Pushing with his beak and feet.

His beak pops out.

More of his beak.

A wing pops out.

The top of his head pushes the egg top off.

The first sight of his face.

Resting before kicking the rest of the shell off.

Dudley's first steps.

Dudley is wet and tired. He is having trouble holding his large head up.

Minutes after birth he finds a spot to rest in the incubator. Peeping the entire time.

Dudley, one hour after birth. He is already starting to dry and his down is fluffing up.

Dudley has changed his mind and wants back in his nice safe egg.

This is a close up picture of Dudley's egg. It has kept him safe and warm for 28 days. The shell is still very hard and the membrane has a rubber like texture. There is one large blood vessle that runs through the membrane and is still seen inside the egg. I have no idea how he ever fit inside!

In this picture Dudley is 8 hours old!!