HELP!! What to do with this egg that I found?

I was scouting out a location for a new bird feeder and found this egg on the ground next to my back porch. Looks like a chicken egg, however we don't have an chickens. Google tells me that is could be a duck egg that was stolen by a crow or fox. Is it too late to try to keep it alive?

  11 answers
  • Beth Beth on May 24, 2020

    Could it be a chicken egg stolen by a crow or fox as well? Maybe one of your neighbors has chickens? It look like a chicken egg to me, just based on size from what I can see. If that's true, it's probably not fertilized.

    • See 1 previous
    • Beth Beth on May 24, 2020

      Lynn touched on this as well in her post below, but I don't know if you'd want to eat it. I probably wouldn't, just to be safe, but she's not wrong to note that the eggs stay okay for a while as long as they're not washed.

  • Lynn Sorrell Lynn Sorrell on May 24, 2020

    if your neighbors have chickens they will lay other places besides their home if they can wander around; probably not good to brood/hatch if it has been shaken/dropped; only way to tell if fertile is candling(If you're looking to incubate your eggs, then the only way to tell if the egg is fertile is by incubating it for a few days, and then candling the egg to see its progress. This involves going into a dark room, and shining a bright light underneath the large end of the egg.); crack it open and see what it looks like if white is cloudy it's old if not fresh unwashed eggs are good for long time if unwashed after bird lays them, so you could eat it if it looks ok.;give to anyone close by that has any type of birds that are laying and hatching so it can keep growing (chickens will work best)

  • Elle Elle on May 24, 2020

    Eat it?

  • Agnes Chrzanowska Agnes Chrzanowska on May 24, 2020

    try to hatch it ?

  • Mogie Mogie on May 24, 2020

    I don't even eat chicken eggs that have set longer then a day. Odds are it has gone too long without warmth from the mother bird. Candling does work I have used that method to check to see if the eggs my hens were laying on were fertile or not.

  • It’s too late. I wouldn’t eat it or try to hatch it since you don’t know where it came from

  • Kmdreamer Kmdreamer on May 24, 2020

    You could try to keep it on a heating pad on low put a towel on it then ad the egg.

  • Cynthia H Cynthia H on May 25, 2020

    It's probably not viable for any purpose at this point. Sorry. Stay safe.

  • SawHorse Design Build SawHorse Design Build on May 25, 2020

    I found other cracked eggs in the backyard and have seen lots of crows recently so thinking they were stolen chicken eggs. Did not look like teenagers.


    Thanks for the assistance everyone- I thought I was going to have to raise a duckling...

  • Patti fogg Patti fogg on May 25, 2020

    Candle it first with a lite, see what is in it. (Dino egg)? Go from there.

    • SawHorse Design Build SawHorse Design Build on May 25, 2020

      I did light it up and did not see any sign of life. I think it was an unfertilized chicken or duck egg. I'm sure someone around here is raising chickens.

  • Redcatcec Redcatcec on Dec 19, 2021

    Oh my gosh, what a find! It looks like a chicken egg. No, I would not eat it, because if it was delivered to you be an animal other than a chicken, it could be contaminated by the saliva of that animal and who knows what is in that.