Expert: Julia Booth - 4/23/2008

Question
QUESTION: How do i check if it is still ok i dont have a camera to send you a pic and is it illegal to have the egg

ANSWER: If it hasn't been maintaining about 101 degrees F, then it's probably not viable anymore. The only way to know for sure would be to incubate it. Laws governing wildlife are usually done by state. But I seriously doubt anyone is going to come banging your door down for keeping an egg that you found on the ground.

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QUESTION: well how do birds keep the egg 101 f

ANSWER: You would need an incubator.

Do your parents know about the egg?
Ask them for help.

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QUESTION: ok i understand that but how do birds keep it 101 f im just wondering my mom said to put it in a towel and put a lamp to it

Answer
Okay, that COULD work, if you had some way of regulating the temperature. But you don't. If it's too hot, the chick inside will die. Chances are that it's already dead, because it's been far too long without the proper heat.

An ordinary heating pad would do, if you had a towel wrapped around it so that it wouldn't get too hot.

I can't tell you how long it would take for it to hatch without knowing what species the bird is that's inside the egg. It can be anywhere from 2-5 weeks.