Eggs were buried for several days before I found them!

[shelleeb76]

So my YF apparently laid 3 eggs a few days ago and I just found them last night. I put them in the incubator. Does anyone know if they will be viable? My guess is they were buried for 3 maybe 4 days before I found them....about 3" or so in cypress mulch, inside the house with heat lamps on during the day. The eggs appeared to be in good condition and color....just concerned it's been a few days. Thanks!

 

[cdmay]

There's no reason why they shouldn't be good. Many of us have retrieved eggs from nests that had been in the ground for far longer and had zero problems incubating them.
The only thing to be concerned with is with eggs that have 'set up' in the ground after a week or so. In this case be careful to maintain the orientation of the eggs as you pull them from the nesting chamber and mark the tops right away.

 

[shelleeb76]

Ok...Thank you so much! I was very careful about not turning the eggs from how they were buried ans marked the top lightly with a pencil....I appreciate your response. Fingers crossed!

 

[Tom]

I leave eggs in the ground for months sometimes before digging them up and incubating. I usually get better hatch rates from eggs left in the ground for a while.

 

[shelleeb76]

That's so good to know...thank you!

 

[Markw84]

Only concern I worry about is if the nest can get flooded. I have terrible soil and hard pan - so if it rains water can fill the nest chamber and that wills officiate the eggs

 

[Mojavejaz]

Is there any wisdom wit redfoots whether they do better leaving in ground for days or weeks versus putting in incubator right away? Just had my female red foot lay for first time today and wondering whether I should treat them the same as my leopard torts eggs?