I need to know temps and such

[rosa1347]

So my first batch of quail eggs didn't make it, they were rotton as rotton could be on day 21 so we pitched them.

This new set i've moved to a new location thats not going to have the vibrations that the first batch had and i invested in an indoor/outdoor thermometer with humidity gage to keep track of things better than before.

I have a styrafoam incubator with no egg turner, i do it all by hand, and one thing i've noticed is that i have to mess with the temprature gage A_LOT. I thought it would warm back up on its own but it really dosen't it drops at least two degrees every turn and won't go back up to 99 from 97 unless i mess with the dial. so...

a little bit go's a long way in this case, a smidge to the right to warm back up and we wound up at my parents for 8 hours yesterday leaving my eggs apperently at the mercy of 102 for who knows how long till i got home to turn them and reajust.

thsi is the first time its been over 100 i've been trying to keep the incubator at 99 solid this whole time....

my main question here is if my eggs are even remotely going to hatch now?

After all 23 of my last batch died, i'm a little anxioud and downhearted about my chances this time, i bought 11 chicks just in case so i will at least have some live birds at the end of this.

Last batch were my very frist try at hatching eggs, i'm extremely new at this so i'm pretty worried i'm going to fail again.

Also, will it be too much on them to candle them at a week old?

They are due to hatch the 6th or 7th(also my birthday) so i didn't know if that would harm them or not or if i'd even see anything at this point?

any info helps a ton!

Also, the quail i'm trying to hatch are coturnix quail.

 

[feedman77]

What kind of incubator do you have?

Still air or forced air?

Since you say adjust the knob for temp. I'm guessing a 9200 little giant.

If it's still air you want your temps taken at the tops of the egg to be 101 to 102.

99.5 to 100 is for forced air incubators.

There is a whole thread on tricks with these incubators in the hatching section. But one trick I remember is people took a cap off a gallon milk jug and glued it too the temp adjuster. I give you a bigger area to move and you make smaller temp adjustment.

Humidity is the next big variable. For my area I try to keep my humidity 25 to 35 percent during incubation. Raise to 75 for hatch. But this is what I found works the best for me. So during incubation I don't run any water in the incubator at all (dry).

For the most part don't follow the instruction that came with the incubator they are usually off base.

I have 20 cotournix eggs that are right at a week. I candled and couldn't see anything. So I'm gonna candle at day 14 and look for embryonic mass. Toss those that don't have any.

I just set 80 eggs last night.

 

[rosa1347]

What kind of incubator do you have?

Still air or forced air?

Since you say adjust the knob for temp. I'm guessing a 9200 little giant.

If it's still air you want your temps taken at the tops of the egg to be 101 to 102.

99.5 to 100 is for forced air incubators.

There is a whole thread on tricks with these incubators in the hatching section. But one trick I remember is people took a cap off a gallon milk jug and glued it too the temp adjuster. I give you a bigger area to move and you make smaller temp adjustment.

Humidity is the next big variable. For my area I try to keep my humidity 25 to 35 percent during incubation. Raise to 75 for hatch. But this is what I found works the best for me. So during incubation I don't run any water in the incubator at all (dry).

For the most part don't follow the instruction that came with the incubator they are usually off base.

I have 20 cotournix eggs that are right at a week. I candled and couldn't see anything. So I'm gonna candle at day 14 and look for embryonic mass. Toss those that don't have any.

I just set 80 eggs last night.

Its still air and you guessed right on the model and everything lol. i've been running it dry like i've read to do for still air it stays at 25 to 35% humidity in there.

The guy i bought the eggs from told me that 99 was where he kept his eggs and they all hatched but he never did tell me weather or not his had fans or not. i know he has them in wine coolers that he converted into incubators it was a pretty cool set up actually lol.

I just candled all of them. only 12 have any masses in them the rest are either heavy and see through or look to be dried out and those are the ones i tried to mend the cracks on so i'm pretty sure those are gone but i'm gunna turn em to the tend.

I do have another question... is it normal for them to have a bubble at the top and bottom? i never had the chance to candle the last batch so i'm unaware of normalcy at this point.. all of them i candled, i can't see into the mass, the lights just can't get through it but i can see at either end it has see through bits but the narrower end or the point of the egg has a diagnal bubble to it goin gdown but the top bit or wider end of the egg has a perfect bubble at the top on all of them. they are supposed to be 6 days today 7 tomarrow and they honestly don't look like any chart i can find at this stage but the pictures are also taken with a candling torch and all i have is a lightbulb or flashlight that can't get it to illuminate any better so i wondered. though i can see veins

 

[feedman77]

I use the flashlight on my cellphone. It works well enough.

I could see into my eggs but all looked clear. My old eyes don't see to well any more.

So gotta wait til day 14 and look for dark mass.

My guess is where you got eggs from has fans in his incubators.

The bubble at the bottom not sure on. But I incubate all my eggs upright not laid down.

 

[duluthralphie]

Hi,, Good luck on the hatch..

Are these all quail eggs?

I have no idea about quail but a bubble on both ends would bother me.

For adjusting temps in the 9200 I use a hemostat. The ones you can get for hook removal at a bate store. The longer the handle the better. just becareful clipping it on and off the know you do not bump it...

I also placed a line on the case where the dial should be, or close to it.

Do not adjust while incubating. small movements make great swings in temps.

 

[rosa1347]

I use the flashlight on my cellphone. It works well enough.

I could see into my eggs but all looked clear. My old eyes don't see to well any more.

So gotta wait til day 14 and look for dark mass.

My guess is where you got eggs from has fans in his incubators.

The bubble at the bottom not sure on. But I incubate all my eggs upright not laid down.

Ya i just went back and used my cell flashlight to look and i can see movement! i saw a youtube video so i wondered if i would. i had 22 eggs it looks like 10 for sure have babies and one is just too thick to see, the rest i'm going to leave till day 10 and if they don't get anything in them i'm going to take them out before lockdown. but it was so cool seeing the movement! i don't think i'm going to change the temp only because its flucuating between 96 and 102 on its own between turns, i think they'll fair well :3 so cool! i never go to see the last batch to know if they were kickin in there or not, newbie mistakes and such. i'm so excited now!

 

[rosa1347]

Hi,, Good luck on the hatch..

Are these all quail eggs?

I have no idea about quail but a bubble on both ends would bother me.

For adjusting temps in the 9200 I use a hemostat. The ones you can get for hook removal at a bate store. The longer the handle the better. just becareful clipping it on and off the know you do not bump it...

I also placed a line on the case where the dial should be, or close to it.

Do not adjust while incubating. small movements make great swings in temps.

yup they are all quail eggs coturnix quail, i went on ahead and candled them and have 10 confirmed babies moving in there normally. i don't know either about the two bubble, i just know right now i have them on their sides due to the fact i don't have an egg turner, so maybe that makes a difference but they are moving just fine in there lol i was really excited when i saw that, i'll be candling them every day till lockdown to keep track of their progress and make sure they are still moving in there.

 

[rosa1347]

now that i think about it i might have mistook the clear fluid as a bubble, cause the bubble up top has a defineing line the other dosen't so maybe i'm just seing the whites vs the yolk?