Tips on hatching button quail eggs!

cayuga mommy

In the Brooder
11 Years
Nov 20, 2008
36
2
22
Ok, I will be getting button quail eggs around the 10th of January but, I really haven't a clue on the right temperatures or anything about hatching them!
I have a LG incubator with egg turner ( and have quail egg cups ) so, I dont have to worry about turning them manually.
How much water in the water rings do I need? ( I dont have a fan so I dont know the exact humidity-just the amount of water in the water wells ).
Also, how long do they incubate for? Do I take them outta the egg turner 3 days before the hatch like other birds?
What temperature do they need?
 
Ok.....it takes about 16 day's for quail to hatch. Take them out of the turner on day 13 and up the humidity a little. I have kept my temp at 100 degree's this time and so far so good, but I have a fan. Normally they say between 100.5 and 101.5 for still air. The humidity is really gonna depend on your area. I keep mine between 40 and 50%. There are gonna be different opinion's on this. I am just giving you mine and what works for me. I would suggest that you to get a hydrometer to keep an eye on your humidity. You can get one at walmart for 6 bucks.

I hope this helps a little and goodluck!!



ETA: I just had button's hatch and out of 23 eggs I have 17 babies., I must be doing something right,. lol.
 
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I do the same as chicken and move them down on the 13 and they hatch any where from 16 to 18 days...I just hatched 11 out of shipped 19 eggs and then 2 christmas buttons today so a total of 13 and now I have 73 cortunix hatching too...good luck with them....

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With the last ones I hatched, I kept the humidity at 50% for incubation, and up to 70% for the hatch. Out of 48 eggs (shipped from Alaska to Kentucky in late October!) I had 18 that were clear, 2 early quitters, 9 DIS, and 19 babies.

In my LG to get the humidity to stay around 50% I had to keep all the water troughs full. I had to add some wet sponges and paper towels to get it up higher for the hatch.

I tried doing them the same as chicken eggs earlier this fall, and only had one chick hatch out of 20 eggs.
 
My button eggs hatch best when I ignore them. In the 'bator, my temp is constant at 99.5, but the humidity fluctuates between 20-40%. I don't bother with the water in the bottom of the LG anymore. I add water to a small piece of sponge through one of the air holes, and I have an auto turner, so the only time it gets opened is to take eggs out and transfer them to the hatcher. I let the sponge dry completely, then wet it. The humidity in the hatcher is at 65-70% for the last 2-3 days.

My first clutch, I kept the humidity in the 'bator high, fussed with the temp, hand turned the eggs.. and lost the entire clutch. Second clutch, I ignored until day 13, moved them to the hatcher, and all but one hatched. Clutch 3, I'm still waiting on due to houseguest fubar. Clutch 4 started to hatch tonight, Clutch 5 is due on 12/27, and Clutch 6 is due on 1/6.

Buttons seem to do just fine with the dry incubation method. I'm pretty sure I lost the first batch due to humidity being too high.

-Spooky
 
Hi, my humidity is staying constant at 53. Do you think this will be ok? I only have 1 sponge in there, but if I take it out it goes down to 20. From what I read, 20 is way too low. any advice will be appreciated. Thanks
 

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