Coturnix quail incubation help

[highwinds2c]

Hallo I'm new to quail and have been attempting to incubate a few so far only 2 of our 24 eggs seem viable from candling. tho I'm starting to think they may not actually hatch as we are on day 19 with no signs of piping. when candled the eggs showed steady growth and were now solid black with no visible air sack. I'm afraid my humidity may have gotten too high as the incubator doesn't allow the humidity to get below 40% on the built in reading without constantly beeping which is very obnoxious and loud. I can turn it off for about an hour but if it stays below 40% it will just start beeping again until you shut it off and obviously I can't be home all day long to turn it off every hour. We tried to keep them as close to 40 for the first 1-14 days then bumped up to 65% to 75% on lockdown day. I've been trying to keep an eye on the temps tho it seems the incubator also has flaws with uneven heating. How long should I wait for the eggs to hatch before I consider it a total loss? so far my therm has been reading pretty close to the incubator temp aside from a few cold spots in the middle that read about 36 C and about 38.4 C in the very front end the zones between tho are a bit more steady at 37.5

 

[6-Hens-and-Me]

Where did you get these eggs from?

 

[Nabiki]

I would candle to see if any are still alive. If they are, I would guess that the temperature inside your incubator was low.

Do you have a calibrated thermometer or three inside the incubator? NEVER trust the readings on the incubator. They lie.

Here is an article that may help you and some candling videos as well.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/coturnix-incubation-tips.76184/

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8AKDZ9NpcmHLecXHu6m5qhUIp67ldEnG

 

[6-Hens-and-Me]

Quails should be incubated (what I’ve had success with) 45% humidity up until day 15 when humidity goes up to 60% temp should be 35.5C all the way through



My eggs tend to hatch on day 17 through 19, although it’s not uncommon for some to hatch on day 16 and I’ve even had some hatch on day 21 so don’t give up just yet we’re rooting for you!!

 

[6-Hens-and-Me]

Your in good hands now @highwinds2c @Nabiki has been keeping quail for years and is very happy to help.

 

[highwinds2c]

Where did you get these eggs from?

They were just grocery store eggs we got from our local store. I'm planning on ordering some actual eggs from our local hatchery to garantee more success but was originally just a test to see if any would hatch.

 

[FowlProtector]

You seem to have struggled with this group of people. Coturnix quail usually hatch between days 17 and 18; however, they can take longer if your temperatures are a touch low in some places. The eggs may have died late in development, perhaps as a result of too much humidity, because you are on day 19 and they have no pipping and are entirely black with no air sac evident. Early on, high humidity might hinder the establishment of healthy air cells, which makes it challenging for chicks to position themselves for hatching.You may give it another day or two just in case, but if there’s no internal pipping (which you might hear as weak peeping or tapping), the chances of hatching are small. You may do a float test, which involves submerging the eggs in warm water to see whether they wriggle, or gently candle again if you choose to check. If none hatch, you may wish to open a few to check on development and see any trends that could assist you in making adjustments for your subsequent incubation. Finding a solution to the incubator's humidity warning problem can be beneficial for the next batches; for example, increasing airflow or utilizing a different hygrometer to confirm real values. If the temperature varies, you may also wish to move the eggs to different locations. If you wish to troubleshoot further, let me know!

 

[highwinds2c]

You seem to have struggled with this group of people. Coturnix quail usually hatch between days 17 and 18; however, they can take longer if your temperatures are a touch low in some places. The eggs may have died late in development, perhaps as a result of too much humidity, because you are on day 19 and they have no pipping and are entirely black with no air sac evident. Early on, high humidity might hinder the establishment of healthy air cells, which makes it challenging for chicks to position themselves for hatching.You may give it another day or two just in case, but if there’s no internal pipping (which you might hear as weak peeping or tapping), the chances of hatching are small. You may do a float test, which involves submerging the eggs in warm water to see whether they wriggle, or gently candle again if you choose to check. If none hatch, you may wish to open a few to check on development and see any trends that could assist you in making adjustments for your subsequent incubation. Finding a solution to the incubator's humidity warning problem can be beneficial for the next batches; for example, increasing airflow or utilizing a different hygrometer to confirm real values. If the temperature varies, you may also wish to move the eggs to different locations. If you wish to troubleshoot further, let me know!

Did a,quick water test and one definitely wiggled before I quickly put it back in the incubator. So fingers crossed it might still hatch q.q

 

[Nabiki]

Please don't do water/float tests. That is a good way to kill chicks. If you are not very careful with the water temperature, they can die from temperature shock, and the shells are porous, which makes submerging them in water a bad idea.

There is still a chance that you may have some hatch, but you should probably pull the plug if none hatch by day 21. Usually late hatches occur due to the incubator temperature being low.

While there is a chance for hatches from grocery store eggs, the success depends on how old the eggs are, how they were stored, and the conditions and genetics of the parents.

 

[CliftonQuail]

You're better off getting fresh eggs from a reputable breeder than trying to hatch grocery store eggs. Frankly, I'm a bit surprised that any developed at all as I wouldn't necessarily expect someone selling to a grocery store to keep a male in with the layers. That said, I suspect they were more than a week old when you got them. At that point, fertility and likelihood of development start falling off dramatically.