But I may have saved one.
I spotted these eggs in the middle of a trail. Not on a nest and they would have been predator food shortly so I figured I had nothing to lose by taking it home. The one on the left is deformed with a soft shell and yolk running out the other side. But the other appears fine.
I called a friend who is a former game warden, but runs a local ecology center in town where they display wildlife and use it as a learning resource for local schools. He said it had a good chance of hatching if placed in an incubator. So, off to town I go, here it is in the incubator.
Ben told me that as long as the mother was not sitting on the egg to begin the incubation process it should be OK for a couple of weeks. But once the incubation process starts it can't stop. It should hatch in about 28 days.
He has 5-6 mallard eggs from a nest that a hawk got into and ran mama off that he is going to place in the incubator along with the turkey egg later today. If they all hatch together there will be the one ugly duckling.
I spotted these eggs in the middle of a trail. Not on a nest and they would have been predator food shortly so I figured I had nothing to lose by taking it home. The one on the left is deformed with a soft shell and yolk running out the other side. But the other appears fine.
I called a friend who is a former game warden, but runs a local ecology center in town where they display wildlife and use it as a learning resource for local schools. He said it had a good chance of hatching if placed in an incubator. So, off to town I go, here it is in the incubator.
Ben told me that as long as the mother was not sitting on the egg to begin the incubation process it should be OK for a couple of weeks. But once the incubation process starts it can't stop. It should hatch in about 28 days.
He has 5-6 mallard eggs from a nest that a hawk got into and ran mama off that he is going to place in the incubator along with the turkey egg later today. If they all hatch together there will be the one ugly duckling.