➡ Quail Hatch Along🥚

[muddy75]

Can I ask you one more question? I’ve noticed that the center of my incubator is 97.3 degree while the corners and the sides of the turner is at 101.8. And this is when I set the temp of the incubator to 102.5. I try to “balance” the difference.

What would you recommend that I do? Will 101.8 be too high and/or 97.3 be too low? I also plan on rotating the eggs every 3 days or so.

I’m a bit stressed! Thanks so much!

it’s always stressful whether your first hatch or 100th as something can always happen to change the game. is the set temp on your incubator able to be calibrated to match the temp reading in the center?? if so, that would be my first suggestion. then I would set the temp so that warmest area stays around 100.5 and rotate the eggs as planned. at lockdown, place all eggs touching near center and lower temp to 99.5. slightly low is better than too high...temps 104 are deadly. others may have different opinions......

 

[ManitobaQuail]

it’s always stressful whether your first hatch or 100th as something can always happen to change the game. is the set temp on your incubator able to be calibrated to match the temp reading in the center?? if so, that would be my first suggestion. then I would set the temp so that warmest area stays around 100.5 and rotate the eggs as planned. at lockdown, place all eggs touching near center and lower temp to 99.5. slightly low is better than too high...temps 104 are deadly. others may have different opinions......

Thank you!!!

Unfortunately the thermostat is not able to be calibrated.

 

[R2elk]

@R2elk and others....technically since I crossed my green-laying EE with BO and WS, the chicks are F1 Olive Eggers??? or do you have to cross OE layer to OE cockerel to ensure F1 OE?

Because you are crossing a green egg layer with a brown egg layer and not necessarily really dark brown layers, it is unknown what you will end up with. If your green egg laying EE only has one blue egg gene, you could end up just brown egg layers. F1 olive egg layers are normally created by crossing a chicken that is known to have two blue egg genes with a chicken that lays a very dark brown egg such as the Marans.

 

[Shortchick]

There were 5 pips (that I could see from the front) last night when I went to bed. I thought I would have at least one hatched and a few unzipping by the time I got up this morning. Nope. One did finally unzip and hatch just before breakfast (I missed it), but no progress on the others beyond a few more pips. And the one that hatched is really lethargic. Sigh.

 

[Shortchick]

Just snoozing on the sibling-pillows.

 

[CindyinSD]

Well, @Shortchick , s/he’s had a really long day of it. If I’d just chewed my way out of a hard plasterish egg I might not be all like, “Hey, let’s go out dancin’, darlin’”, either.

 

[CoturnixComplex]

View attachment 1734713 Just snoozing on the sibling-pillows.

Yay!

He should be totally fine. I bet he perks up in a few hours.

 

[TheLaboratoryBF]

Just want to give everyone a heads up if you've purchased hatching eggs from Alchemist Farm in Sebastopol, CA (they ship nationwide): She is replacing eggs for anyone who had a hatch rate of less than 50% so far this year...apparently their males are older and fertility rates are much lower than they anticipated...she is replacing her older breeding stock with younger birds and will be replacing eggs starting in May. My 2 dozen hatching eggs came from Alchemist (ordered and picked up in person in February) and I hatched only 8 chicks (11 were infertile, 3 died early on, 2 fully developed but never pipped/hatched). I figured my low hatch rate was due to my inexperience, but perhaps not.

 

[CoturnixComplex]

Yay! Little late baby is doing better than any I've ever had to brace (well okay that's...three). He's sprinting around on his tippy-toes this morning. My total might change to 17 but I'm not totally confident yet.

 

[Kiki]

@dpenning Can we get a picture of Nekkid and his crew?