Help a newbie hatch an abandoned egg

[Chickerdychick]

Hi all!
I'm brand new to this poultry scene. Any pointers would be most grateful.

Whilst going on a walk near my home, I came across a lone egg, laying on a construction site floor. I initially left it alone, thinking maybe mum was nearby and I didnt want to disturb it, I looked around just incase it had fallen or moved from a nearby bush. I found nothing. Not a bird in sight. I returned a couple of times with the same outcome and decided to take it home. It wasnt giving off any real warmth but it wasnt cold either. It was clean and looked so perfect, I initially thought it was fake!

I have no idea what egg this is, it is the size of a small/ medium chicken egg but pale sage green in colour. I've done a small amount of research and I'm thinking maybe a pheasant or duck egg?
I rinsed it in Luke warm water and "candled" it with a small torch. It's pretty hard to determine what's going on in there right now but it is light red in colour, with a slightly darker spot that I'm assuming is the yolk?. No veins that I could see. Could I be wrong in saying this wasnt fertilised?

In the event that I was wrong, I took a large plastic container, put a hot water bottle in the bottom wrapped in a towel. I took a lunch box, placed wet paper towels in the bottom, followed by a tea towel (to avoid the egg getting wet), the egg on top of the towel. Placed into the large container, covered with a lid with holes.(Do eggs suffocate during early incubation? Do they need to "breathe"?) I'm changing the hot water bottles frequently, getting an average inside temp of 37-38.5° but the actual egg shell temp is 36°. I've gently turned the egg 4-5 times.

I'm now sitting here riddled with guilt thinking I might have done something wrong. Also thinking this egg might not even be fertilised . I fully intend on buying in incubator if it is fertilised. How long will I know? Does it depend on different breeds?

Please dont eyeroll at me, poultry veterans. I'm just a girl, trying to look after a strange egg ❤

 

[Belladonaslite]

Next time dont wash it. It removes the bloom.

 

[Sea Wolf]

You won't be able to tell if it is fertile or not but you can buy an incubator and see if you can get it to hatch. I can tell after a week if they are developing or not. Picture of the egg? You didn't do anything wrong by picking it up. It wasn't in a nest. Either dropped by a careless new mother or lost by a predator that stole it from somewhere. It can also be a chicken egg as there are blue egg laying breeds. You will need a commercial incubator to get it to hatch and it should already be in one. Unless you can buy one locally, you don't have time to mail order one. The egg needs to be at a constant 99 to 100 degrees F for it to develop. It needs to be turned a few times a day. The water bottle isn't going to work as it is too erratic and you are looking at doing this all day, 24/7 for the next 21 days..

 

[Chickerdychick]

 

[Sea Wolf]

Duck egg maybe? Is there any water nearby at all? You don't say where you are in your profile so can't tell if it might be a local wild species.

 

[007Sean]

More than likely a duck egg, definitely not a pheasant egg. You won't be able to tell if it's fertile until about 4 days into incubation. It would be best to get an incubator as soon as you can...if it has started to develop already by what you have done so far, if the temp drops below the current temps your keeping it at now, it will likely die.