Killdeer eggs?

[KWAK]

my brother brought me 3 killdeer eggs (was going to take them back but cant find the nest)
Please help

- How long does it take to incubate the eggs?
-what temperature do they need to incubate at?
- how do I incubate them?
-do they hatch featherless or do they have the soft downy stuff like chicks/ducklings...?
-what do they eat?


-Is it worth even trying?

 

[Glenmar]

The nest is really hard to see. You could be right up on it and not see it.

 

[Stacykins]

Yea, the only way you know you are close to a killdeer nest is because mama is makes an unholy racket and tries to lure you away. Watch her from a distance to see where she goes to nest.

 

[dacjohns]

You are best off finding a wildlife rehabilitator. Most people don't have the equipment or knowledge to do something like this and it is illegal. I know, as harsh as it sounds to let something die rather than give it a chance it is illegal. If you were to have a successful hatch they would most likely imprint on you and would be wild birds that did not know how to forage or interact with their own kind. Sorry.


As Glenmar said, the nests are very difficult to see. They aren't much more than a small bowl scooped out of the gravel. If you can find the mother, they will alert and lure you away from the nest, you might be able to find the nest.

 

[KWAK]

well i'm going to try to hatch them.... i guess... the eggs were in the mid. of a soccer feild so probably would have been smushed any ways...

 

[TinkleTurkey]

yah I'm sure fish & game would frown upon that, but they're not in any way endangered so as long as you don't flap your gums about it too much it wouldn't hurt to give it a go.

and they hatch out like chickens do covered with down and walking
I'm also not sure that they would imprint at all. Songbirds tend to imprint but these guys are pretty flighty by nature.

 

[PortageGirl]

hatch them and then do what with them? how long will they live after they hatch before they starve to death because of the lack of proper diet. can you regurgitate what they need to have to survive? Teach them to forage? show them how to avoid their natural predators? pretty selfish... sorry if I sound harsh, just my opinion I suppose.

 

[KWAK]

No Im going to take them to a wildlife place after they hatch.
and I have raised baby birds and returned them to the wild. they are still alive (a few will land on people when they see them

. )

 

[FaereChicken]

http://www.birdwatching.com/stories/killdeer.html

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Killdeer/lifehistory

 

[1chicken_2little]

I agree with PortageGirl. It's just how things are in nature. Those birds that lay their eggs in a soccer field shouldn't hatch. They should be raise by a parent that can pick a safe place to raise them. Think of all the city slicker ducklings that are hatched and then waddle there way into a storm sewer because their mother took them for a walk down the street. Those ducks are there because people are feeding them in the park. It's not natural habitat. That's the way Mother Nature is. It's survival of the fittest. I'm not trying to be rude it's just my opinion. It is a Game and Fish violation too.