Phew

So – that scrawny little thing eventually made it out (five hours later). And I’m proud to say I resisted the temptation to prise away the shell….It is flailing around quite horribly now, and its proud Mum is nudging it around with her beak – ‘Come on, matey, get your act together!’. I had somehow expected more billing and cooing from her – ah well, my own will more than compensate. By the way – this chick (a boy – my hunch) has the toughest, chunkiest legs and feet you ever saw. Ancient, like a flying dinosaur or a long-lost Dodo. Those Uni breeders are onto something, I reckon – however fast he grows (the expectation is that he will make it to a couple of kilos in 9 weeks), unlike the usual commercial broilers he will still be able to walk around. Hurrah for genetic engineering.