MYSTERY!! EGG!!! Could it be........?

[kyeschicks]

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Holy mackel that is ugly.

I was all ready to give you a hard time about all baby birds being cute and stuff ....

but you are totally right.

Holy Crap Ugly!

ugliest thing I've ever seen!

 

[bee_wrangler]

At 17 days old it looks like zombie chick... kind of a clash between Alfred Hichcocks The birds, and return of the living dead lol

 

[BeckyBird]

You know what? I think baby birds are adorable. Baby parrots, songbirds, herons, etc....all babies are cute. And most people think I'm crazy, because most people think featherless baby birds are "ugly"......

HOWEVER.....that baby barn owl is the ugliest thing I've ever seen. Seriously. I never in a million years would have thought that I would say a bird was ugly. But wow, that thing is straight out of a horror movie!

Ok, legality of raising a baby owl...totally illegal. Stinks. I wish it were legal. Did you know it is illegal to even possess a feather of any wild bird? Or old nests? Every bird, egg, feather, nest, is illegal to possess. The only ones you can legally have are starlings, house sparrows, rock doves (pigeons) and of course, hunted birds that were killed by a person who has a hunting license.

 

[cejones119]

As a wildlife rehabilitator myself, I would not recommend hatching the egg. I know how tempting and exciting it is (I know I'd want to do the same thing!) but it really wouldn't be in your or the bird's best interest. Now there's always the possibility of putting the egg back and seeing if mom will come back for it, but I'm assuming you don't want barn owls (or whatever else it might be) nesting in your coop.

You may want to keep checking back in the coop for more eggs though if this is the case. Barn owls can lay up to 8 eggs, so keep an eye out for more.

 

[keatonskeets]

I've closed the loft door, since I dicovered the egg, and I haven't gotten anymore eggs. So if it is an owl, I don't think she'll be comin' back.
I'm so confused!!!!

 

[SilverPhoenix]

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Completely agree. Even if it isn't a barn owl egg, no matter what it is we don't want to go around hatching mystery eggs (unless they're mystery eggs of the domestic fowl sort--in that case, go for it and have fun!).

As an experienced wildlife rehabilitator, I can say if you did manage to hatch some sort of wild creature, you'd be in for far more trials and difficulty than you would expect, and you would likely just end up killing the baby even with your best efforts to rear it properly. Even with all the training, education, cooperation and complex discussions my wildlife rehab group does, we still have a lot of problems that we face in raising the animals properly from a number of standpoints. It's just much more complicated then you would ever think. It's also a massive commitment, feeding and caring for a baby wild bird.

Having had up to thirty wild birds of various species in my house at a given time, I can say when you have wild babies, you do few things other than care for them. I commit my summers to this, and during the time I'm caring for them I hardly ever leave the house, hardly get anything done in the house, and essentially my whole life becomes centered around these babies.

I doubt you're going to try and hatch it anyway, but I just thought I'd type this up anyway just in case anyone else ever ends up in a similar situation. If you find an abandoned nest of eggs and you want to help, just call a wildlife rehab group near you and they'll give you some advice on what to do with them, whether it's bring them in to them or leave them alone.

 

[keatonskeets]

Thanks for all of the input!! There is also the possibility that it's just an unusual chicken egg. In that case, it would just blow up in the incubator. I have no buisness messing with owls anyway... It was a very educating experience for me. I hope these posts will help others in the future......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................Now What in the hell do I do with this egg NOW??

 

[Colonel77]

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Egg sandwich...

 

[SilverPhoenix]

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Throw it out for the crows, blow it and keep it, fry it up just for kicks, throw it at random bystanders, crack it open and examine the contents... Whatever you want.

 

[babsbag]

Call a wildlife center and see if they want them. Maybe someone there with wild bird experience would want to incubate it, you never know if you don't ask. Unless of course it was illegal for you to even move it, then SSS