Is this a Peafowl Egg????**UPDATE** In Lockdown! 2 days till hatch!

[DragonEggs]

I work for a private exotic animal breeder as a caretaker. She also keeps geese and I care for them too. Everyday the geese get food and fresh water in their pools. Part of the job is also checking for eggs. I was checking at first but then I learned that geese are seasonal layers and that their season should be over by now. I still check anyway, just in case (I check her tortoise pen for eggs too daily). Today while watering the geese I found this egg OUTSIDE the pen in the brush line, about 8-10 feet from the pen. The pen is 4ft chainlink fence with no cover, but the geese never leave it. I have heard peafowl in the area calling to one another, but they don't sound close. I am 99.9% sure this egg was not there yesterday, I mean its HUGE and bright white and was laying in dark brown pine straw. It's possible it has been there for as long as week, though.

Anyway, my boss bought an incubator for her goose eggs, so we set it up in a temp controlled area, let it run for a couple hours while the egg sat and got room temp an then I put it in. I can't tell the humidity in there right now but I have it set just below 100F (98-99). Luckily she also had a goose egg turner. I put it in on it's side with the point slightly down. Waiting for her to find her candler so I can check it for fertility in a few days.

Point is I know NOTHING about peafowl. How long should the egg incubate for? At what temp? Laying it on it's side in the turner alright? When should I candle? Do you think it was any good in the first place? Do you really think it's a peafowl egg?

Thanks guys, I'm totally clueless and my boss knows I have chickens so she leaves me in charge when it comes to the birds and the incubator stuff thinking I know about all of it when truth it you guys are the brains behind this beauty!

ETA: My boss said when she was getting eggs from her geese they weren't this big so she doesn't think it's a goose egg.

 

[Kedreeva]

Well, it looks about the right size to be a peafowl egg.

They have an incubation period of 28-30 days. Temp's the same as chickens but the humidity is ideal around 60% from what I've heard (and that worked great for the one hatch I've done with peafowl). I don't remember exactly the humidity for lockodown, but I think it was 75% or so.

Any of the peafowl people here will probably tell you that it's actually best to lay the egg on its side and hand turn, as they report worse hatches with an auto-turner. I had mine on an auto turner, upright, and I lost 2 of them for no known reason- but I didn't know to hand turn them at the time. So it's possible that was why.

 

[chicks4kids]

Maybe it's a turkey egg......I can't tell from the picture, so are there brown spots on the egg? Here's a turkey egg for reference.......

And here's a goose egg (next to a large size chicken egg) for reference.........

 

[Kedreeva]

Turkey eggs and peafowl eggs are remarkably similar from what I've seen. The peafowl eggs I hatched, some had brown speckles, some did not.

In either case, I believe the hatching conditions for the two are also remarkably similar.

 

[Hollywood Chickens]

Here are some egg to compare it with:

From left to right: guinea egg, 2 turkey eggs, peafowl egg

 

[DragonEggs]

Nope, no brows spots on it at all. Its just dirty. It was out in the rain.

 

[Hollywood Chickens]

Well then I guess you have your answer! it's peafowl!

 

[Hollywood Chickens]

http://www.peafowl.org/ARTICLES/14/

http://www.ogpbb.com/accessories/incubation-guide/peacock-egg-hatching.html

they might help a bit.

 

[bigdawg]

that looks like my duck eggs. so you will know for sure in 28 days. hope it hatches so we will all know for sure

 

[DragonEggs]

Hey thanks so much! I'm gonna be awful antsy for the next 10 days before I check it for fertility...

Her incubator doesn't have a hygrometer, so whats a good way to tell the humidity in there?

Also, what do you guys figure the odds are that the egg was any good at all?