# How do i incubate a wild bird egg



## Stainer (Jan 8, 2008)

Hi today i found 4 eggs on the ground three of which were cracked and geting eatin by ants but the forth was perfect so i have brought it home and put it in a tub of vermiculite with a 60w globe over it. I have covered it a bit and put a thermometer next to it.It is siting at 34-35c.
So My Questions are: Is this a good setup?
Are the temps right?
should i turn the egg?
how do i no if it is still alive?

Thanks in advance


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## Stainer (Jan 8, 2008)

bump


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## chloethepython (Jan 8, 2008)

i have no idea but good luck


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## Stainer (Jan 8, 2008)

Thanks


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## itbites (Jan 8, 2008)

what is the egg from do you know? maybe 35 is a bit high? i think 30 is a safe number to stay at


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## lil_ben (Jan 8, 2008)

yea gl with it, post some pics and tell us what happens


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## Chrisreptile (Jan 8, 2008)

ive heard they like the warm temps, 35-37 possibly? *someone please correct*

i think it would have to be turned?

is the vermiculite dry?

someone with more knowledge should be able to help.


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## Stainer (Jan 8, 2008)

the vermiculite is dry
i dnt no wat sort it is
and my dad thinks it may be a noisy minner cause the nest all year


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## Stainer (Jan 8, 2008)

how often do you think i should turn it?


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## herpie boy (Jan 8, 2008)

if its a myner...........................smash it


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## Bourbs (Jan 8, 2008)

for a bird egg you may be better putting it on a bunch of tissues arranged in the shape of a nest.. it will be alot softer and wont built too much humidity/heat .... 

to figure out if the egg is alive i would suggest candling.. carefully pick the egg up and hold it over the end of a torch. the light from the torch will shine through the egg and if you do this every couple of days you should see the inside of the egg changing (veins will grow around the inside of the egg, you should also see a small dark spot which will usually be the baby bird developing)


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## Stainer (Jan 8, 2008)

no cause i dnt no for sure


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## Stainer (Jan 8, 2008)

i can see veins
and i will try the tissues tomorow to see wat temp
it gets to on them.
thanks for all the help so far


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## Bourbs (Jan 8, 2008)

keep the heat on it but not too high, i would probably go for around 30 or slightly above, and I wish you the best of luck with it, but i must add this...just be aware that if the egg is alive and you manage to hatch it, depending on what type of bird comes out it may be very hard to keep it alive.. Baby native birds are fairly fragile and need the right food and the right temperatures or they get sick very easily.. even week old hatchlings are hard to keep alive and need constant feeding... I guess what I am saying is that if the egg doesn't survive, don't beat yourself up - sadly it might be better that way


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## Bourbs (Jan 8, 2008)

out of interest how big is the egg?


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## Stainer (Jan 8, 2008)

ok thanks heaps and i am aware that it is a long shot
but im ganna try any way i will keep every1 updated
also how often should i turn it?


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## herpie boy (Jan 8, 2008)

indian myner eggs are a light green and around 30mm h and 20mm w......hope that helps a bit


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## Stainer (Jan 8, 2008)

The egg is approx 3 cm and a little green so it might be a myner


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## Bourbs (Jan 8, 2008)

noisy miner is different to indian myner.. even if it is a pest if it is hand raised from egg it can't be released as it wont be able to find food etc so really that bit isnt going to matter as it will be captive forever 

as for how often to turn it.. thats one bit im not sure on... a helpful resource may be anything you can find on hatching chickens.. the basic principals should be the same  there should be specific instructions on how often to turn chicken eggs. hope this helps


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## Stainer (Jan 8, 2008)

that does help thanks ill start researching


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## peterjohnson64 (Jan 8, 2008)

Personally, I would google something along the lines of "how do I incubate bird eggs" to find this answer as opposed to asking a group of herpers. For a start, so far no one has suggested that the egg be incubated at around 37 degrees and yet in every article I find after googling that is the temp that is recommended. I also believe that you ned to turn bird eggs as opposed to reptile eggs where doing so will drown the embryos.


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## Bourbs (Jan 8, 2008)

i hope that what you just posted simply came across wrong peterjohn64 ... otherwise, its not fair to knock stainer for asking for advice - they didnt know where to start but thats hardly their fault. if i had something animal related and didnt know what to do, i would see no harm in asking here as most people on this forum have pets other than reptiles.. like i said though, hopefully it just came across differently to how you intended


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## Stainer (Jan 8, 2008)

Thanks bourbs


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## herpie boy (Jan 8, 2008)

yeah peter.............you better watch it................well let you go this time..lol


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## jessb (Jan 8, 2008)

I'm pretty sure if WIRES are given an Indian Mynah chick to rescue they have to euthanase it. Is it worth keeping the egg if that's the case? Of course a native noisy miner is different...


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## Desert Dweller (Jan 8, 2008)

Eggs need to be turned 2-3 times a day minimum, temps are ok. Bird eggs need a bit of humidity to stop the egg drying out or causing a DIS (dead in shell) chick.
Depending on what sort of bird it is, if it hatches, you will have a new family member as big chance it will be with you a while, make sure its not a pest/ declared species as you could get a huge fine- also with natives.

I think the next few months will be quite busy for you, with incubating and rearing and personally I would just let the egg go now before it starts to form. (big chance it wont hatch anyway)


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## Stainer (Jan 8, 2008)

im going to keep the egg because i do not no what it is
but if i new it was a indian myner i may concider killing it.


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## jessb (Jan 8, 2008)

Stainer said:


> im going to keep the egg because i do not no what it is
> but if i new it was a indian myner i may concider killing it.


 
Harsh but fair I say!


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## Stainer (Jan 8, 2008)

desert dweller i no there isnt a good chance that 
it will survive but i want to try
as it will be fun and i like birds when
i was younger i found baby birds and me
and my brother fed them and cared for them for a while
then let them go they used to fly up to us and sit on us.
so i dnt see it as a berden i see it as a litlle challange and 
fun.


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## jan (Jan 8, 2008)

lm incubating a turkey egg at the moment its due to hatch anytime they need incubating at 39degrees and turning a few times a day...not to be turned the last few days supposedly...l hope its a boy they are just gorgeous looking critters...a bit unusual!!


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## Full3R (Jan 9, 2008)

Regardless of how much i dislike un-native animals terrorising natives, I couldn't hurt one as helpless as a baby, Indian Myners to my personal accounts have made great pets, very friendly towards me, basically what has been said is correct about incubation, i have always used the "tissue nest" technique, Every since i was little i've hatched out King Quail, Jap Quail, Lorikeet, Peace Dove, Crested pidgeon, Myners, Magpie etc that have been abandoned or knocked from the nest, (all except the magpie were from my avaries which the parents would not take back) I used 40w bulbs for all mine as a personal prefference (not saying im correct) but i did that and kept the light about 20 -25cm distance from the egg and it worked 99% of the time


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## Bourbs (Jan 9, 2008)

something else that just occured to me as well - baby birds dont like constant light. If / when it hatches i would suggest using a "hot box" or "hospital box" wildlife centres use them.. essentially its an open fronted wooden box, usually with a wire front depending on what is being housed in it.. The floor of the box is wooden, with space underneath for a light globe to provide heat. Here is a link that has a guide to built one - it seems complicated but this is just to give you a rough idea of what you will need 
http://www.javafinch.com/buildhospital/hospitalndx.html


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## Stainer (Jan 9, 2008)

ok thanks.
I put the egg in a nest made out of tissues but that mad it 
go to about 40c so i have put it bak the same way i had it before


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## Stainer (Jan 11, 2008)

Hi i just put the egg up to the light and the inside is all runy
it looks like water is that good or bad?


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## Dragontamer (Jan 11, 2008)

if it is runny it is dead 
poor little egg


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## Stainer (Jan 11, 2008)

noooo!!!!
damn i was hopeing it would survive.
well thanks for the help


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## westernrocky (Jan 11, 2008)

*birds egg*

the temp. you need is 37-37.2 and plenty of humidity some birds etc. are 38 while pheasants are 39 [trust me on these temps l have been doing it for longer than l care to think...cheers WR


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## Stainer (Jan 11, 2008)

westernrocky is the egg dead if it is runny?


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## Tatelina (Jan 11, 2008)

Stainer said:


> no cause i dnt no for sure



So you'll kill it after it's hatched if it is?


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## Helikaon (Jan 11, 2008)

you all do realise that most birs have a body temp of about 38 degrees and that the eggs of birds are incubated at about body temperature.


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## westernrocky (Jan 11, 2008)

*Eggs And Candling*

go into a pitch black room and put a bright torch up to it and you should see the red viens and the air sack [up one end] unlike herp eggs they should be rotated several times twice a day [the hen bird does this naturally] if the egg is jelly inside it doesn,t look good but don,t give in yet waite at least a week, with a good strong torch you can actually see the heart beat at 5-9 days...ps those temps l gave you earlier are right not BS....WR


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## Helikaon (Jan 11, 2008)

westernrocky said:


> go into a pitch black room and put a bright torch up to it and you should see the red viens and the air sack [up one end] unlike herp eggs they should be rotated several times twice a day [the hen bird does this naturally] if the egg is jelly inside it doesn,t look good but don,t give in yet waite at least a week, with a good strong torch you can actually see the heart beat at 5-9 days...ps those temps l gave you earlier are right not BS....WR


 

thankyou i will vouch this is the right advice to. this is a bird not a reptile.


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## Dragontamer (Jan 11, 2008)

i would leave them for a few more days though they are most probably dead. only problem is the gas buildup can cause a rotten egg to explode :shock: and beleive me it stinks. i have incubated geese,chickens,ducks,guinea fowl,quail all at 39 degrees so 37 might be a bit cold.


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## westernrocky (Jan 11, 2008)

*Egg Temps*

Dragontamer is dead right for those temps he/she stated but birds [cage birds and similar are 37-37.2................cheers WR


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## Stainer (Jan 12, 2008)

ok thanks
Well ill keep trying ive uped the temps now
and dragontamer if the egg does explode its in my brothers room
so i wont have to worry about the smell lol


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## dragon lady (Feb 1, 2008)

bump on the bird egg!!!!!


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