Talk:Guides/Hatching A Smallbird/@comment-98.28.105.145-20171210173352

I've lost 3 smallbirds so far in my current game (235 days--shipwrecked) and hopefully my advice, if it hasn't been given before, will help others save theirs:

1.)  Never leave the egg while hatching.  Either wait near it or take it with you, since it doesn't lose progress but doesn't gain progress.

2.)  Build a pen before hatching.  Two of mine were eaten by my eyeplant defense system after following me during a crocodog invasion.

3.)  Despite having an ample food supply, these little buggers are picky.  I ran out of berries and seeds (thus how I lost the 3rd one).  I had plenty of vegetables and they wouldn't touch them.  Get a bird in a birdcage before hatching, feed it vegetables, and they'll produce seeds that the smallbirds will eat.  I have a bird in a cage and didn't think to do this until my smallbird died.

I'm about to try my 4h batch. It really seems like a just-for-fun thing, not for survival, and I'm okay with that.