How to care for a Blue Jay Egg?

Question

My friend found a baby Blue Jay egg, and we plan to mother it until it hatches. What temperature does the egg have to be kept at, and are there other specifications as to how to hatch it?

Answer 1

There are several things you must do.

1) You must keep the temperature at 98.7 degrees-99.7 degrees, unwavering (this is the usual temperature for a bird; but some species might require it to be as low as 80 degrees or as high as 120 degrees; I don't know the specifics.

2) You must keep it at a certain humidity level; usually around 30% or more.

3) You shouldn't touch it, because the oils from your hands will plug up the pores in the egg shell that is essential to the bird's development.

4) You must rotate the egg every 2 hours to avoid the embryo sticking to the side of the shell; if the embryo is allowed to stick to the side of the shell, than it will never develop properly.  This includes waking up at night every 2 hours to rotate the egg.

5) You can't just "mother it until it hatches", because you also have to mother it until it can fly and forage for its own food.  This can be very time consuming.  You need to feed it every 2 hours until it has stopped gaping, and you have to keep it warm and in a humid area.  You also need to teach it how to fly; kind of hard for a human to do.  Not only flight does it have to learn, but it also has to learn how to hunt and forage for food, which is nearly impossible.  You need to not let it imprint on humans, or else it will think it is human and it will only live half a life.  You need to tell it that it's a bird by feeding it with a blue jay-like object.

And of course, there is the legal aspect.

Migratory birds, such as blue jays, are under state and federal protection.  Including the feathers, eggs, nests, claws, or any other product from a migratory bird.  You can, or your parents can and will be fined for harboring a protected species.  They may suffer up to a 500$ fine, and/or 6 months in federal prison.  One man I know of was sentenced to 5 years in federal prison and a $3000 fine; of course, his offense was much worse; he had killed many birds of prey.

THe best choice for you and for the egg would be to leave it where you found it.  It might even be an infertile egg, or it might already be dead.  Candle it to see if it's alive; go into a dark room and shine a flashlight through it; if you can see veins and/or a pulse, then it's alive.  If all you see is a dark spot in the middle of the egg, or if you see only an empty see, than it's dead.

Best of luck, and I hoped I helped.

--Phoenix