Incubator lockdown

Well first off hello... Yep I'm a newb. So I'm getting a few quail soon, raising a few breeding pairs to hatch my own meat quail. I was reading through the forum about incubating the eggs and when to "lockdown". I was just wondering how to keep track of the eggs? For example... If I put in 4 or so eggs, and then in 4 days or so I want to put in 4 more eggs... if I'm supposed to lockdown the incubator for the last three days of the first batch wouldn't that conflict with the incubating period for the second batch? And If I wanted to hatch every single egg that my hens lay, how would I keep adding eggs to the incubator without conflicting with the eggs already in the incubator, and how to keep a steady stream of hatching quail?

you should hold eggs no cooler than 55 degrees for no more than a week let them come up to room temp then set eggs at one time if possible

So I can hatch an egg thats 5 days old if I keep it above 55 degrees? Thats just lovely can I keep it at room temp the whole week and then just put them straight into the 'bator?

55 to 60 degrees is the preferable temp to store eggs before incubation. However you can set them on your counter, provided it is not too warm where that counter is, and can store them up to 7 to 10 days. If you are going to stagger hatches, it might be best to use more than one incubator.

I do with my chickens eggs a lot of times i leave them in basket outside on screened porch . it is always trial and some error , i am hatching some quial now in a home ade incubator so far 6 of 13 successfully hatched 3 more pips

Good deal, good deal. Thanks a bunch for the quick replies

Take your eggs you gather every day and place them in a cool spot (I used an old boot box with a quail egg carton in it). Store them pointy end down and tip them from one side to the other (keeping the point down) twice to three times a day. On day 7, take them out of the cool spot and move them to near your incubator along with that day's worth of eggs.

To keep them separate from the other eggs already in the 'bator, it depends on whether you are using a turner or not. If you are using a turner, use a different rack for each batch and put a piece of tape or a sticker dot with the date you set that "rack". If you are using the hand turning method, I would suggest writing the date on each one or giving it a letter, for example the first batch would have an A on them, the second a B, the third... you get the picture. This way you can keep the two batches separate from each other for lockdown.

If you are using a turner and it will work without all the rails in it, pull out two now. This gives you a "hatching zone" in the 'bator. Move the batches to this area when hatching date approaches. You can use some wire or something to separate it from the rest of the 'bator so the little ones don't get trapped under a turning rail. Since humidity needs to increase a bit during hatching, you run the risk of drowning the next batch in line but if you monitor the humidity closely and don't let it get too extremely high, the majority should be okay.

In this situation where you will be doing a batch a week until you have birds coming out your ears I would splurge and get another incubator if you are using one of the tabletop models to use as a hatcher instead of trying to do it all in one. If you have one of those multiple shelf cabinet ones, then don't worry about the paragraph above and just use one shelf per batch. As fast as Coturnix hatch (and that's just an educated guess as to your breed) I don't think you will ever need to worry about the eggs on shelf A still in the turning stage of incubating when Batch D comes along. A should already be in the brooder and chirping up a storm. Also humidity won't be as much of a problem either since humidity sinks a bit, making the lower portion of a cabinet incubator a bit more humid than the upper portions (that's why most cabinet styles have the "hatch rack" on the bottom).

Thank you all for the quick replies, makes a whole lot more sense now

i have been taking eggs out of my hen ducks nest everyday and today for 2 of them is day 26. i know i need to put them in lock down but i have one incubator with egg rotator in it any ideas on what i should do?

It's really important to make sure all of your eggs hatch at once. In nature, that's what the mother does- she lays one a day and doesn't sit on them until she has enough of them, then she sits on them and warms them up. So they all start growing at once, and hatch at approximately the same time, and grow up together in a bunch, learning how to socialize together.
How long you can hold them before putting them in the incubator and still get them to hatch varies by species. Most people say 10 days for quail.