Remove Unhatched Bluebird egg?
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Guest
Recently I placed bluebird houses nearby because they were checking out the PM houses for nesting. The bluebirds moved to the bluebird house just fine and during BB nest checks I see that one of their eggs has not hatched. The others hatched 4 days ago. I am finding conflicting information about removing the unhatched egg. The sites that say to remove the egg site the risk of contaminating the nest. ( An example: "These infertile eggs act as a medium for incubation of various types of viruses and bacteria. E-coli, strep and staph come to mind. If the nestlings break an infected egg and the yolk spills into the nest, the resulting infection could be lethal to the nestlings. I suggest that all sterile eggs be carefully removed from a nest."). The PM site has responses to leave the egg? What is the right answer?? Thanks....
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Guest
The "right" answer - well, I don't know if my answer is "right" or not, but here is what I am going to do:
For the first time is 15 years of bluebirding, I had a 6 egg clutch. They hatched this weekend, all but 1 of them, and so, also for the first time in 15 years, I have an unhatched egg in the nest.
I am going to wait until tomorrow afternoon to see if this egg is OK, but since Mama Bluebird has already rolled it out of the nest cup and onto the rim, I think she knows it is no good. The inside of a BB nest bx is pretty small, and as those babies get to growing and moving around, they are going to break that egg. Then, the yolk will draw ants, flies, maybe even predators, plus the potential for bacterial infection as you stated. However, I think the bacteria issue is not as critical as some of the others I mentioned. Have you ever seen a BB box after the young fledge? Pretty filthy stuff - there HAS to be a good number of bacteria in that dirty old thing!
I think the advice is that you leave an egg until you are sure it is infertile. After 4 days, I would say yours is not going to hatch. I suggest you pull it.
For the first time is 15 years of bluebirding, I had a 6 egg clutch. They hatched this weekend, all but 1 of them, and so, also for the first time in 15 years, I have an unhatched egg in the nest.
I am going to wait until tomorrow afternoon to see if this egg is OK, but since Mama Bluebird has already rolled it out of the nest cup and onto the rim, I think she knows it is no good. The inside of a BB nest bx is pretty small, and as those babies get to growing and moving around, they are going to break that egg. Then, the yolk will draw ants, flies, maybe even predators, plus the potential for bacterial infection as you stated. However, I think the bacteria issue is not as critical as some of the others I mentioned. Have you ever seen a BB box after the young fledge? Pretty filthy stuff - there HAS to be a good number of bacteria in that dirty old thing!
I think the advice is that you leave an egg until you are sure it is infertile. After 4 days, I would say yours is not going to hatch. I suggest you pull it.
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Guest
Well, Mama Bluebird cleaned house for me. That infertile egg is gone tonight.
Five babies doing well. Rain all day tomorrow, then cold night with the potential for frost. Brrr! It is times like this when I kick myself for not getting my BB trained on mealworms. Hope they do OK.
Five babies doing well. Rain all day tomorrow, then cold night with the potential for frost. Brrr! It is times like this when I kick myself for not getting my BB trained on mealworms. Hope they do OK.
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loco for purple
- Posts: 187
- Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2005 7:06 pm
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Dr. Kathi,
This was my first year to have bluebirds.It was a great success.A couple of times I put superworms on a tray below the bluebird house.They ate them up like crazy.If you are going to have bad weather you might try this.It could save those babies because at this stage of life they need to eat constantly...Good luck...
This was my first year to have bluebirds.It was a great success.A couple of times I put superworms on a tray below the bluebird house.They ate them up like crazy.If you are going to have bad weather you might try this.It could save those babies because at this stage of life they need to eat constantly...Good luck...
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Guest
Dr. Kathi,
Thanks for your advice. I pulled the egg today and verified that it had not been fertilized / developed. It certainly made more room for the 3 live ones in that small nest. In my BB boxes I'm not sure how the mom could get the egg up and out the opening... Thanks Dave (CitrusFlorida)
Thanks for your advice. I pulled the egg today and verified that it had not been fertilized / developed. It certainly made more room for the 3 live ones in that small nest. In my BB boxes I'm not sure how the mom could get the egg up and out the opening... Thanks Dave (CitrusFlorida)
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Guest
Dave:
My bluebirds removed the egg themselves on Mon (2 days post-hatching) so I didn't get a chance to open it. Don't know if I would have had the stomach to or not, to be honest.
Julie Zickefoose, a bird artist, bluebirder, and all-around nature lover, says she pulls any eggs that haven't hatched after 2 days. Here is a link to her blog: http://www.juliezickefoose.com/blog/ I am a big fan of hers.
My bluebirds removed the egg themselves on Mon (2 days post-hatching) so I didn't get a chance to open it. Don't know if I would have had the stomach to or not, to be honest.
Julie Zickefoose, a bird artist, bluebirder, and all-around nature lover, says she pulls any eggs that haven't hatched after 2 days. Here is a link to her blog: http://www.juliezickefoose.com/blog/ I am a big fan of hers.