Duckybabes
In the Brooder
- May 2, 2020
- 11
- 15
- 26
So usually I don’t do anything when I see a nest and mind my own business but we put a bird feeder by our front door and just love bird watching. Well I was outside with my kids watching them play and what I believe is a house finch (thought it was a robin until I saw google pics of eggs) over the course of 50 minutes, carried four eggs (one at a time with lots of effort) and plopped them into a flower pot beneath on the ground. Of course I sat there bewildered. She flew away after she dropped the eggs. I took the kids inside and waited an hour. Nothing. I put gloves on (I’m a nurse) and gently placed the eggs back in the nest. (Probably shouldn’t have??) and went inside. Later that day I came out to grab something from my car and the eggs were in the flower pot again
So I googled as much as I could and went to the store and bought a 3.00 styrofoam cooler, a 40 watt light bulb with a dimmer, a thermometer, and a humidity gauge. I have a tortoise so I used some of the new hay we bought. Cut a hole in the one side and put in the bulb, set down hay and a bowl of water with sphagnum moss in it, and put the gauges in it. The top of the cooler I cut out and got a frame and took the glass and taped the glass on the cut I had made for a window. I let it all sit and adjusted temps and sprayed water with a spray bottle. After 2 hours it was at a constant 99 degrees F, and 43-45 humidity. I went out and checked and yes the eggs were still there. So I brought them in with gloves and set them in there. I’m pretty sure she laid those eggs that day because her and another bird built that nest super quickly it seemed. It has to be that day or the day prior. So when I put them in the incubator I considered them to be day 2 or 3. Google said wait 5 days and candle. During the next 3 days I rotated the eggs 3 times a day and kept the temp at 99-100 F. The humidity has been 40-43 which now I’m learning is too low ?? Two eggs never developed. One was completely cracked on bottom from being plopped down.
Today should be day 9 or 10. And yesterday and today I’ve been rotating 5-7 times, temp is 98-100 mostly, and I have candled them more than I should because the last time I did I didn’t see them move and I thought they were dead
I noticed a small crack on the bottom of one egg but I think the bird is still alive? They aren’t moving barely when i candled them last night and today again is day 10 I think. Any help would be great because I don’t honestly know what I’m doing and google says like 10,000 different things for humidity at day 9+ and temp and rotating. They probably won’t make it but I couldn’t just leave them. I know I should have but just seeing them be thrown out (shouldn’t have trusted mommy bird?) I just couldn’t do nothing.
thank you and sorry post is so long. Here are some pics for you to see what I have been seeing in the eggs and also my home made incubator set up. .
So I googled as much as I could and went to the store and bought a 3.00 styrofoam cooler, a 40 watt light bulb with a dimmer, a thermometer, and a humidity gauge. I have a tortoise so I used some of the new hay we bought. Cut a hole in the one side and put in the bulb, set down hay and a bowl of water with sphagnum moss in it, and put the gauges in it. The top of the cooler I cut out and got a frame and took the glass and taped the glass on the cut I had made for a window. I let it all sit and adjusted temps and sprayed water with a spray bottle. After 2 hours it was at a constant 99 degrees F, and 43-45 humidity. I went out and checked and yes the eggs were still there. So I brought them in with gloves and set them in there. I’m pretty sure she laid those eggs that day because her and another bird built that nest super quickly it seemed. It has to be that day or the day prior. So when I put them in the incubator I considered them to be day 2 or 3. Google said wait 5 days and candle. During the next 3 days I rotated the eggs 3 times a day and kept the temp at 99-100 F. The humidity has been 40-43 which now I’m learning is too low ?? Two eggs never developed. One was completely cracked on bottom from being plopped down.
Today should be day 9 or 10. And yesterday and today I’ve been rotating 5-7 times, temp is 98-100 mostly, and I have candled them more than I should because the last time I did I didn’t see them move and I thought they were dead
I noticed a small crack on the bottom of one egg but I think the bird is still alive? They aren’t moving barely when i candled them last night and today again is day 10 I think. Any help would be great because I don’t honestly know what I’m doing and google says like 10,000 different things for humidity at day 9+ and temp and rotating. They probably won’t make it but I couldn’t just leave them. I know I should have but just seeing them be thrown out (shouldn’t have trusted mommy bird?) I just couldn’t do nothing.
thank you and sorry post is so long. Here are some pics for you to see what I have been seeing in the eggs and also my home made incubator set up. .