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Is there any chance for these eggs?
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Posted by katiedidcottage (My Page) on Wed, Jul 20, 11 at 7:54
| The nest was built and the last of four eggs was laid on July 1st. The female has been very attentive and stays on the nest most of the time. I checked very quickly on a daily basis in the early afternoon while she was away and could see that she was moving the eggs to incubate them correctly. So now it is July 20 and she is still incubating but there is no sign of hatching and I have not seen any sign of the male bluebird in at least two weeks though I cannot watch all of the time and I know they can do much without me seeing them. It was not that hot down here during the early part of July, but it is now getting up in the mid-90s, so I think if they don't hatch soon, they will be damaged. Could all four eggs be infertile or damaged because of heat? Thank you for any help you can provide. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Is there any chance for these eggs?
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| Hi, I just had a similar situation,first time I've experienced this. I let the eggs stay for about 23 days, not wanting to interfere, before I removed them. By that time the father bird was acting like he wanted to mate again, sitting outside the nest and singing. I finally removed the eggs, and the birds have re-nested but I'm anxiously waiting to see if this batch will hatch. Do you hear the male bird singing? Maybe they have built another nest elsewhere by now. So I guess if I were you I'd wait another couple of days and them remove them and the whole nest. They rebuild quickly. |
RE: Is there any chance for these eggs?
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| If you are certain that the last egg was laid on July 1st, those eggs should have hatched by now. May be that they are not fertile. You can "candle" one of the eggs to check for an embryo. Take a container with real soft lining and a plastic spoon out to the nest. Using the spoon, gently and very carefully remove one egg and place into soft container. Take inside house. Go into dark space (I use my closet) and briefly shine a flashlight into the egg. You should be able to see if there is anything inside the egg. If it seems that there is an embryo, take the egg back to the nest and carefully put it back in. If there is no embryo, I would guess that the whole batch is probably infertile, and she is just a wishful thinker. Maybe her mate was killed or left before the eggs could be fertilized. If you don't see an embryo and the egg seems to be empty, you can check another egg to reassure yourself before removing them and the nest. Just my suggestion. |
RE: Is there any chance for these eggs?
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| Great advise about candeling but there have been reports of eggs hatching on day 23. Give it just a bit more time, then do candle them before disposal. |
RE: Is there any chance for these eggs?
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| Thanks for all of your good advice. We had a good downpour this afternoon, so I was not able to check since the advice of Sialis says not to bother them in bad weather. I will wait until the 24th just to be on the safer side of giving them a chance before trying to "candle" the egg or eggs. I'm not sure that I see exactly how to do it, but I know I can be careful with the eggs. |
RE: Is there any chance for these eggs?
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| I just "candled" the eggs. Actually, when I removed the first one, I could even see a line where a liquid had solified inside the eggshell. So I looked at the others and they were the same. I then candled them and it just confirmed that there was nothing in there but a clear yellowish liquid with a large air-pocket at different areas where they appeared to have sat in one position. I guess I'll remove the nest and and maybe they'll try again. |
RE: Is there any chance for these eggs?
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| YEP. Too bad, but just what I thought you would find. It's pretty obvious when you look into the eggs. Next time, you will know what you are looking for. Guess she was gearing up to mate, and then her husband ran off or got killed. So, her eggs never got fertilized. Bless her heart. Well, better to start over and perhaps be successful. These things happen. Good for you that you were paying attention. We actually can be of some help to them if we pay attention to the process. :o) Angie |
RE: Is there any chance for these eggs?
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| Don't forget to save the clean nest! |
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