➡ Quail Hatch Along🥚

[Sara L]

My first time incubating, had several dozen quail babies hatch over Sunday (day 17) and Monday (day 18)!!! It was like Christmas, don't think I slept much at all the last two nights. I'm quite relieved as I had some issues with the humidity pump and thought maybe I would lose the whole hatch. I was literally on BYC searching "Day 17 no movement or pipping" when I heard cheeping from the incubator and realized that the first egg had hatched. Didn't get the second one for almost 10 hours, and a bunch more hatched over night. I still have a bunch of unhatched eggs. No movement or pipping all day as far as I can tell. Today at 2 pm will be Day 19. Should I leave them in for another day or two, or assume that they'd have hatched with the others if they were still viable?

Give them a little more time. Always candle and tap on the egg before tossing it, sometimes they are still alive and stuck. Sometimes stuck chicks don't make it, but sometimes they bounce back amazing and you can't even tell which one it was afterwards.

If you feel up to it, if there's no response to the tapping and no movement when candling, gently open the egg in the air cell part to see if the chick is alive or dead. Knowing the progress of eggs which didn't hatch can help you determine how to change your incubation method for future hatches and get a higher hatch %. Keep a journal and write down data from each hatch as it progresses and final tallies.

 

[TwoShepherds]

Leave them in, you might get late hatchers. I usually wait until day 20 or 21 before tossing them out.

Thanks! I will leave them in a little longer.

Give them a little more time. Always candle and tap on the egg before tossing it, sometimes they are still alive and stuck. Sometimes stuck chicks don't make it, but sometimes they bounce back amazing and you can't even tell which one it was afterwards.

If you feel up to it, if there's no response to the tapping and no movement when candling, gently open the egg in the air cell part to see if the chick is alive or dead. Knowing the progress of eggs which didn't hatch can help you determine how to change your incubation method for future hatches and get a higher hatch %. Keep a journal and write down data from each hatch as it progresses and final tallies.

Thanks for the advice. I'll give them some time, definitely will candle and open them before tossing. I'm too curious. I don't want to harm any by opening too soon though.

 

[Captain Quark]

These guys are two weeks old on Thursday. I opened up a new section of the pen to them today and put in some pine shavings. This is the second day they have been dust bathing.

 

[TwoShepherds]

Had 18 hatch out today (on day 20)! Sadly two didn't make it. Several more look like they may be pipping...

 

[Captain Quark]

Had 18 hatch out today (on day 20)! Sadly two didn't make it. Several more look like they may be pipping...

How many have you hatched out now so far? It's been three days of hatching for you or two? It was three plus for me, which took me by surprise. Going to rotate eggs differently next time.

 

[TwoShepherds]

How many have you hatched out now so far? It's been three days of hatching for you or two? It was three plus for me, which took me by surprise. Going to rotate eggs differently next time.

I think I have around 55-60 chicks in the brooder right now. And about 10 eggs left in the incubator. Yikes!

The early bird hatched out Sunday around 3 pm, the majority hatched Monday and Tuesday, about 16 hatched early am on Wednesday, and it looks like I may have 2-3 more tonight or tomorrow if the ones that started pipping finish hatching. I may assist them tomorrow if they don't make any progress over night. I helped two hatch the other day that seemed stuck... and happily they both survived thus far

I'm new at this. I guess maybe my incubator doesn't heat evenly is why my hatch is so spread out? I only rotated the order of the eggs once. I had 89 eggs set...was afraid I'd mess up the temperature and humidity or drop them if I moved them too often. I guess I don't mind the hatch being spread out as long as they are still alive??

 

[Nabiki]

15 eggs didn't make it to lockdown. They were either infertile or early quitters.
39 eggs from K.Dale Coturnix in lockdown, including 3 celadons
10 of my own eggs, all celadon

 

[FloorCandy]

I’ve been ill and didn’t update, but I incubate just about every double yolker. I had added 3 to the brinsea after I set it, so when I locked down the brinsea I moved them to the nr360 because I didn’t want to kill them with the high humidity. One was an early quitter, one was moving but too much chick inside to see details, and one I could never see into. I left the 2 eggs in, and one hatched. The day before, I candled, and it looked like the chick/(s) was bobbing around in liquid. I was sure it wouldn’t hatch and would drown in there, but I checked it every few hours and it was still moving, it eventually hatched! But only one huge chick and a ton of goop. I had to rinse it off in a bowl of warm water, and it dried and looked like a broiler chick with the tiny head and legs and HUGE belly. I added him to the brooder and hoped for the best, he was 5 days behind the babies but bigger than many of them. He’s still doing fine, he’s more normal proportioned now, I guess he was waterlogged lol. Interestingly he’s the only normal pharaoh in the group, all other pharaohs are tux.

 

[FloorCandy]

Here’s a pic of little Rusty:

he’s the one at about 8 o clock, no feathers yet.
Just after hatch, you can see how big across he is:

 

[vall]

If you're hatching 40-60 chicks.. at what age do they start to become a handful?