Found an egg on my dock

[can't get enough chicken]

I am sure the wildlife center will get back to me on Monday. I know FluffyFeathers suggests putting it back outside on my dock where I found it but that is a guaranteed way to kill it. I don't have the heart to do that. I would rather it grow up and be able to be released which is what the wildlife center does. Not trying to ruin entire ecosystems here.

I do have a temperature and humidity reader if that is what you are wondering. I have been keeping it at around 50% now.

Can mallard eggs be this colour too? It looks like it.

 

[MGG]

I am sure the wildlife center will get back to me on Monday. I know FluffyFeathers suggests putting it back outside on my dock where I found it but that is a guaranteed way to kill it. I don't have the heart to do that. I would rather it grow up and be able to be released which is what the wildlife center does. Not trying to ruin entire ecosystems here.

I do have a temperature and humidity reader if that is what you are wondering. I have been keeping it at around 50% now.

Can mallard eggs be this colour too? It looks like it.

How big is the egg? Can you take a pic of it next to a quarter? You'll know when it hatches lol. Yes that's what I mean. I would drop the humidity off to about 35-40 percent. You'll get a nicer air cell that way. I think its great that you rescued it. I think what happened is a young hen whatever she was, was coming in to lay. That probably was her first egg. I find eggs in random places all over out here and it's always young new layers. She may have not found a nesting site yet, and it just "fell out, lol " on your dock. It's pretty neat that it's fertile. If you can find somewhere to take it once it hatches that would be best, it's very dangerous to transport eggs. It can be done, but it's very difficult and if it can be avoided I would avoid taking it somewhere at all costs. You're doing great, keep it up. I'll check back often, I can't wait to see the little one!

 

[can't get enough chicken]

How big is the egg? Can you take a pic of it next to a quarter? You'll know when it hatches lol. Yes that's what I mean. I would drop the humidity off to about 35-40 percent. You'll get a nicer air cell that way. I think its great that you rescued it. I think what happened is a young hen whatever she was, was coming in to lay. That probably was her first egg. I find eggs in random places all over out here and it's always young new layers. She may have not found a nesting site yet, and it just "fell out, lol " on your dock. It's pretty neat that it's fertile. If you can find somewhere to take it once it hatches that would be best, it's very dangerous to transport eggs. It can be done, but it's very difficult and if it can be avoided I would avoid taking it somewhere at all costs. You're doing great, keep it up. I'll check back often, I can't wait to see the little one!

I just looked it up and egret eggs and mallard eggs are the exact same size so that isn't super helpful! Looks the size of a normal chicken egg to me. I will drop the humidity! Thank you so much for your advice! It will be VERY obvious when it hatches what it is haha

My neighbour who breeds and owns a variety of birds suggested the same thing! He says if the bird gets scared they can just pop one out accidentally! Funny to think about. It was at the very edge of my dock so one small wave would have knocked it over. What a terrible place to lay an egg!

 

[MGG]

I just looked it up and egret eggs and mallard eggs are the exact same size so that isn't super helpful! Looks the size of a normal chicken egg to me. I will drop the humidity! Thank you so much for your advice! It will be VERY obvious when it hatches what it is haha

Is it more triangular? I would suspect duck, but I've never seen egret eggs before. They would probably want to lay in a more secluded spot, but I've seen weirder things. What day is it on again? I have been able to tell (I once thought I had a pheasant egg but realized it was a duck) on day 17 about if the have webbed toes or not. For some reason I can always see feet on that day. Webbing is usually very obvious.

 

[MGG]

 

[MGG]

These are all Mallard eggs that I rescued at a local park. I was amazed by the variation in size and color

 

[can't get enough chicken]

These are all Mallard eggs that I rescued at a local park. I was amazed by the variation in size and color

That is so cool! They all look so different! Did you incubate those? Were they not in nests either?
I found it on March 30th. Never thought about looking at their feet! That would be a good way to tell!

 

[BroodyCluck]

Hello!

I live on the water and we have mostly mallard and egrets here. I was going for a kayak yesterday and found a turquoise egg on the corner of my dock! I looked all around for a nest in my backyard but had no luck finding one. I have taken the egg and put it in an incubator that I borrowed from my neighbour. I have it around 37.7 degrees C and 65% humidity but I have no idea what I am doing!

I candled it and it looks like there is a dark disk that moves around when I move the egg. It also had a little bubble of air on top of that dark disk.

Any ideas or suggestions? Am I incubating a dead egg? What kind of bird laid the egg and how would it end up on my dock?

 

[MGG]

That is so cool! They all look so different! Did you incubate those? Were they not in nests either?
I found it on March 30th. Never thought about looking at their feet! That would be a good way to tell!

Yeah I did. A farmer found them. He was plowing a field last spring and he hit the hen. She was sitting really tight and flew up at the last second. That happened on two separate nests. He called me, feeling really bad. He knew I had an incubator and asked if I could take them. 3 eggs were dented because they got hit. In the first pic the one on the lower right was chipped from it. I guessed the really green ones were about 15 days along (they were all in a nest together, from the same mom) and they lighter ones were maybe 3 days. That was a really staggered hatch. I hatched them and then I gave them to a rehab place. I thought it was funny that each nest had 9 eggs. All of them hatched, dented and all. I'll post some pics of the littles just for fun

 

[MGG]

You didn't say the size. If it's slightly or more larger than a chicken egg I would guess some type of duck. If it's small could be quale or some type of wild bird You may have to hand feed. You should search out eggs online. Find out what it seems to be so you can prepare how to care for it and you want to know what ideal temp & humidity for incubator and how many days it will take to hatch. If it turns out you can't care for it most egg hatchlings will live little more than 24 hours without food and water but now is the time to be prepared and have needed food on hand. Wild birds eggs can fall out of them sometimes. Very interesting. Keep.us informed.

I'm thinking its probably a mallard.