Hatching a found American Robin egg

[ILoveMyDucks123]

Hello,
So my daughter brought an egg from the daycare Wednesday last week. I was already incubating duck eggs and I was at day 20 near lock down. I put the egg with the others and it started developing. The thing is that today is lockdown for my duck eggs. I put the Robin egg under the heat plate with a small bowl of water... I intend to put it back in the incubator once the last duckling has dried up since towards the end of incubating time, I'll need to increase the humidity for the little Robin and the timing should be right since I read the incubating period is 11 to 14 days.

Any thoughts? Do you guys think it could it work?

 

[Stanpott]

Yes...I don't know if it is a good ideal. How do you care for it when it does hatch? I have watched Robins care for their babies. It looks easy, but maybe the Robins make it look easier than it is! Anyways, I don't know if it is a good idea or a bad one, but it is fascinating!

 

[ILoveMyDucks123]

Yes...I don't know if it is a good ideal. How do you care for it when it does hatch? I have watched Robins care for their babies. It looks easy, but maybe the Robins make it look easier than it is! Anyways, I don't know if it is a good idea or a bad one, but it is fascinating!

Well, I did some reading and watched Youtube videos, and apparently you need to feed them every 15-20 minutes from sunrise to sundown for 2 weeks, which is ALOT... The mixture seems easy to make, though, you boil an egg and mix it with water and oat, and it's supposed to make a homogenic paste that you'll give the baby Robin, ideally with a seringe... At that point, I'll have transferred the responsibility to my daughter's daycare educator, she wants to do the experiment with the kids.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

its illegal to have wild birds or their eggs in your possession unless you're a licensed rehabber

 

[SilverBirds]

Well, I did some reading and watched Youtube videos, and apparently you need to feed them every 15-20 minutes from sunrise to sundown for 2 weeks, which is ALOT... The mixture seems easy to make, though, you boil an egg and mix it with water and oat, and it's supposed to make a homogenic paste that you'll give the baby Robin, ideally with a seringe... At that point, I'll have transferred the responsibility to my daughter's daycare educator, she wants to do the experiment with the kids.

A baby bird is not a toy to be played and experimented with, it's a life... a life that YOU created. Unless the educator is a licensed rehabber it would be wildly irresponsible to give it to her. If the robin hatches you need to bring it to a rehab where it has the best shot of being cared for in a way that it can survive on its own.

 

[Stanpott]

A baby bird is not a toy to be played and experimented with, it's a life... a life that YOU created. Unless the educator is a licensed rehabber it would be wildly irresponsible to give it to her. If the robin hatches you need to bring it to a rehab where it has the best shot of being cared for in a way that it can survive on its own.

Licensed rehabber? You'd need to travel far to find one of those! It's a Robin, not a bald eagle, if she turns it over to fish and game it will just be a treat for the office cat.

 

[ILoveMyDucks123]

A baby bird is not a toy to be played and experimented with, it's a life... a life that YOU created. Unless the educator is a licensed rehabber it would be wildly irresponsible to give it to her. If the robin hatches you need to bring it to a rehab where it has the best shot of being cared for in a way that it can survive on its own.

Well, I'm in Canada, and last time I tried to safe wildlife in calling wildlife center, it was a dear that was hit by a car. It was still aware of its surroundings, it just needed time to heal. But you know what, it was shot within a matter of minutes without any further evaluation/consideration.

So, I'm sorry I don't really trust the process. I should have let the egg be, or I guess just feed it to my dog since it had not started to develop at the point where it first got in my hands, but my instincts told me to put it in the incubator... So here I am now.

 

[Qwerty3159]

Licensed rehabber? You'd need to travel far to find one of those! It's a Robin, not a bald eagle, if she turns it over to fish and game it will just be a treat for the office cat.

What a strange and baseless assumption to make.

 

[Qwerty3159]

Well, I'm in Canada, and last time I tried to safe wildlife in calling wildlife center, it was a dear that was hit by a car. It was still aware of its surroundings, it just needed time to heal. But you know what, it was shot within a matter of minutes without any further evaluation/consideration.

So, I'm sorry I don't really trust the process.

Are you a veterinarian? I’m surprised a deer was hit by a car and incapacitated yet survived at all. Broken leg, internal bleeding, brain injury, etc are all real common with vehicle collisions. I’m sure there’s a reason they euthanized even though it “looked fine” to you.

The dichotomy between “I don’t trust licensed officials to handle wildlife” and “here I am on the internet asking for help rehabbing wildlife” always intrigues me. You are trying to do the right thing and save a life but refuse to follow our advice that this is an ill-fated venture. Baby songbirds are difficult to rehab as is and especially when you’d be raising it from their most fragile newly hatched stage. It’s a major commitment in time alone just to keep the thing alive. Do you work from home or have someone on standby for multiple feedings per hour? You distrust wildlife officials, what happens when the baby robin is sick? I’m betting that it’s more likely than not you will have some sort of issues raising the bird. It’s not a dig at you, just how it is. It’s hard! Lots of veterinarians straight up will not treat wild birds because it is illegal for it to be in your care. Will you then, and only then, turn the bird over to the proper authorities?

Other people were nice but I’ll get straight to the point, what you’re doing is illegal and stupid unless you’re a trained professional. The fact that you are asking for advice here proves you are neither trained nor a professional.

Edit: I just re-read all the posts. Somehow, I think pawning the bird off as a classroom experiment is an even worse idea.

 

[SilverBirds]

Licensed rehabber? You'd need to travel far to find one of those! It's a Robin, not a bald eagle, if she turns it over to fish and game it will just be a treat for the office cat.

I used to volunteer at my local rehab center, and I can assure you that nothing of that sort happens. Baby birds are one of the top priorities and every single one was taken in if they could manage. Staff members are working over 12 hour shifts to feed and care for every single baby they can.