ostrich egg HELP

[krstna]

ok, so my boyfriends friend brought him an ostrich egg. its completely in tact, no cracks to shell or anything like that. this friend had another egg that they opened and there was a dead baby in it they said it looked sorta like a bird already. assuming the egg i have now was laid when the other egg was is it possible that mine could still be saved and eventually hatch? how do i tell? i know its probably a slim chance its living in there but i need to be sure, you know?

 

[chooks4life]

Hello and

You don't mention when the egg was given to you, or taken from the nest, which makes it impossible to hazard a guess as to whether it's still viable. If not developed, generally, they can last for up to a month or so, but once development starts I'd think you likely have under a week's worth of dormancy that the embryo can tolerate and survive without proper heating. Improper heating is dangerous, and can kill them. Their metabolism starts once they reach a certain temperature and stops once that drops too low.

You could try floating it, perhaps, and if it floats it's dead unless it's developed to the point of almost hatching --- at least, that applies to chook eggs and for all I know it could be unwise to do to an ostrich egg. I do know that they are known to be easy to contaminate with bacteria from incorrect handling, and washing must be done carefully and with the correct solutions if at all.

I don't have ostriches so you'll have to take my thoughts here with a pinch of salt, but I have chooks and other poultry and have found that a healthy egg can cope with a huge amount of mishandling and abuse. I'd expect ostrich eggs are probably not as tough but I may be wrong. The main issue here would be where did the egg come from? The chances of you saving it, even if it's alive, and even if you know where it came from, are very slim. Can you give it back to the parents? They're not often the tamest birds, it could be downright dangerous to try to reintroduce the egg to its parent, even if it's a farmed ostrich. Can you afford to buy a whole ostrich egg incubator for one possible dud egg? The chances are not too good, sorry.

Anyway, for what it's worth, I have found chook eggs can tolerate being left to chill overnight every night up to hatching, they can tolerate being thrown and dropped onto hard surfaces, they can bounce off rocks and trees without breaking, they can be submerged and covered almost completely in mud and feces, they can have brooding times stretched out weeks longer than natural and still hatch. But, that's chook eggs, may not apply to your egg, but as far as I've seen not giving up is generally a good way to go. However in this case I don't think your chances are too good.

Anyway, best wishes.