- Mar 8, 2022
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Hello All!
So the day before New Years (Dec.30th) I placed a couple button quail eggs and 2 jumbo quail eggs in my 12slot incubator with hopes that they would hatch... No such luck, but just for the heck of it, I continued placing every button quail egg I've found in the incubator with hopes my favorite tiny roo had done his job at least once. Well, it turns out he did and I now have a dozen button quail eggs staggered with a 10 day difference between them. (I placed in 1-2 eggs a day). I know my oldest egg was fertile when I candled it last week, but now the eggs are all too dark too see anything with the exception of an egg I popped in a couple days ago. (There is faint veining and a heartbeat). My dumb brain forgot that my family is out of town for 3 days (the 14th-17th) and that would be about the time the oldest eggs would be hatching- if they are still viable. I had originally planned to turn off my automatic turner when I leave on the 14th, but would this doom the younger eggs? I've done staggered hatches before for coturnix quail, but I was home the day the oldest eggs were scheduled to hatch and candling wasn't an issue until lockdown. I can't see anything in these button quail eggs- they're not duds though. Also, if the chicks hatch the evening of the 14th, would they be be alright by themselves in the incubator until I get home the evening of the 17th?
Anyway, pardon the long post, the long short of my question is: Do I turn off the egg turner, leave food and a small bottle cap of water for any potential chicks? Or do I keep the egg turner on and hope for the best? Humidity fluctuates between 48%-61%
So the day before New Years (Dec.30th) I placed a couple button quail eggs and 2 jumbo quail eggs in my 12slot incubator with hopes that they would hatch... No such luck, but just for the heck of it, I continued placing every button quail egg I've found in the incubator with hopes my favorite tiny roo had done his job at least once. Well, it turns out he did and I now have a dozen button quail eggs staggered with a 10 day difference between them. (I placed in 1-2 eggs a day). I know my oldest egg was fertile when I candled it last week, but now the eggs are all too dark too see anything with the exception of an egg I popped in a couple days ago. (There is faint veining and a heartbeat). My dumb brain forgot that my family is out of town for 3 days (the 14th-17th) and that would be about the time the oldest eggs would be hatching- if they are still viable. I had originally planned to turn off my automatic turner when I leave on the 14th, but would this doom the younger eggs? I've done staggered hatches before for coturnix quail, but I was home the day the oldest eggs were scheduled to hatch and candling wasn't an issue until lockdown. I can't see anything in these button quail eggs- they're not duds though. Also, if the chicks hatch the evening of the 14th, would they be be alright by themselves in the incubator until I get home the evening of the 17th?
Anyway, pardon the long post, the long short of my question is: Do I turn off the egg turner, leave food and a small bottle cap of water for any potential chicks? Or do I keep the egg turner on and hope for the best? Humidity fluctuates between 48%-61%
