Is it bad if my Cortex Quails went over the hatching date?

[JetCat]

i know my thermometers are calibrated so if they go over 19 days (for coturnix) i toss them out.

you can candle yours and if they don't have any internal or external pips then you can water candle (float them) and live chicks will cause the egg to move as it floats, sometimes they'll dance around, sometimes only slight movement. it's up to you when to toss them out, most eggs that go over when temps are correct have issues so tossing them is the best thing for your flock.

 

[JetCat]

............... i was pulling 372 eggs out of the incubator to go back into the hatcher

and this is what one drawer in the hatcher looks like tonight!!

 

[Shamo123]

Thanks for this information. What is the method you use to check if its a bad egg at the end of incubation.?

Have a look at this https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ng-egg-viability-for-late-or-overdue-hatching

 

[Meg02]

UPDATE!:

I had just candled our new batch of eggs (from 2 weeks ago) and the one written 5 was moving crazily around! Its 4 more days until I need to stop turning number 5 but there was this vein or tiny foot that was moving and its little head was going around, I couldn't hear it moving but it definitely was alive and well, I checked my egg that said number 1 on it and I heard the little slight peck that was scraping against the eggshell.

QUESTIONS:

1. Do you know what number 5 is doing?

2. Should I be candling them every night?

3. If something is wrong with number 5 what has happened?

THANK YOU!

 

[Shamo123]

UPDATE!:

 
I had just candled our new batch of eggs (from 2 weeks ago) and the one written 5 was moving crazily around! Its 4 more days until I need to stop turning number 5 but there was this vein or tiny foot that was moving and its little head was going around, I couldn't hear it moving but it definitely was alive and well, I checked my egg that said number 1 on it and I heard the little slight peck that was scraping against the eggshell.

QUESTIONS:

1. Do you know what number 5 is doing?

2. Should I be candling them every night?

 
3. If something is wrong with number 5 what has happened?

THANK YOU!

Is it possible that the chick was going crazy due to the bright light (from candling)?

I personally don't candle everynight but some do, i don't want to risk dropping the egg or stress the chick/embryo too much by candling too often.

 

[JetCat]

1. Do you know what number 5 is doing?
Growing!!!

2. Should I be candling them every night?
That's up to you, myself i don't candle quail eggs at all, and i only candle chicken eggs the day they go into the hatcher.

3. If something is wrong with number 5 what has happened?
Patience, you'll have babies soon enogh, no need to worry yourself.


here's what i pulled out of the hatcher this morning, still have a few eggs left, i'll let them stay in till tomorrow morning and what doesn't hatch by then gets tossed out.

 

[GPBII]

A lot of people ask about how often they should candle eggs. To me, it's simple. One time during the entire incubation process.

I set my eggs and use an automatic turner. I do not candle them until I remove them from the turner. What's the point? I'm not going to replace that infertile egg with a new egg. There's no point in handling the eggs, contaminating them or having changes in the temp/hum every time I open the incubator. Also, a warm infertile egg sitting in the incubator will only help keep the temperature up and regulated better. I candle them as they come off the turner. Infertile eggs get thrown away and the rest stay in the incubator until it's over. If they don't hatch, oh well.

If you have an incubator that is functioning correctly and you regulate the temp and humidity, candling will only tell you how many live chicks you have. Everyone's goal is to hatch as many as possible so why not just get an accurate number of chicks after they've hatched!

 

[Meg02]

Thank you for your feedback especially Jet Cat! I thought something was wrong with number five but you told me it was growing thank you!

 

[Meg02]

UPDATE 2:

Just heard number 1 2 and 3 eggs in their shell and I have a few questions again (Sorry)

QUESTIONS:

1. How long can the hatching go up to?

2. How do I know if they have internally pipped?

3. When should I get their house ready with the heat lamp?

Thank you again!

 

[JetCat]

hatching coturnix for me usually starts early day 16 (although it has started as late as day 18), they tend to come in waves, i get a big hatching all at once then nothing for several (4-8) hours, then a second, and largest, wave comes all within 10-15 min of each other then another pause and the last come sporadically, after the second pause. i usually give them another day before tossing, in the picture above the second wave came yesterday morning, i cleared the hatcher around 5pm of all hatched birds and this morning there are only 3 more that had hatched. i have Marans eggs going in the hatcher after i get back home from taking care of everything at my breeding barn, what doesn't hatch by then will go in the compost.

the only way to know if you have an internal pip is to candle it and/or you can hear the chick chirping. internal pips can be very difficult to see on spotted quail eggs such as coturnix.

i have my brooders already set to the proper temp (100° for quail chicks, 95° for most other fowl) so all i'll need to do is plug them in and let them get to temp and stabilize but i keep a plastic tub in the incubator/hatcher room with a heat lamp, i plug it in about 5 min before moving anything from the hatcher into it, it's lined with paper towels only so there isn't a need to wait for the bedding to get up to temp. my brooder battery (GQF 0540) only takes about 5 min as well to come up to temp and stabilize (i use the DACB paper to line the floor for quail the first 7 days, chickens can go directly on the wire). i have some much larger brooder boxes i built for hatching out large numbers of chickens that i use pine shavings in the bottom of, they require several (4-5) hours to get the bedding up to temp and stabilized.