🥁🥁🥁... Two Fertile Eggs 😭

[CascadiaRiver]

Well, it's officially lockdown, waiting for the humidity checker to recalibrate to see what I gotta raise it to, but after setting 15 eggs we have a drumroll please ... Two. I candled them all and it was obvious, 13 looked clear, you could see the yolk floating in the white, and these two were heavy, dark, "filled" looking. While I'm very happy it hopefully won't be a single chick, but God am I cutting it close. I'm gonna keep an eye on craiglist for if anyone's selling chicks this week too, in case I end up with a lonely baby. At least I have more eggs to set but this is a bummer first batch lol. It's two eggs from the same fee hen, with either the roux boy or grey/tux boy, well see!

 

[GodLovesU]

I hatched button quail a little less than a year ago. I bought 15 eggs but ended up with only 3 birds.

 

[CascadiaRiver]

I hatched button quail a little less than a year ago. I bought 15 eggs but ended up with only 3 birds.

I'm just hoping for these two to make it so I won't have a single crying baby (until we'd try to find someone on craiglist with chicks) but I am definitely going to set more eggs after this. I wanted to hopefully get like 6-8 but I guess two is better than my last batch (zero).

The old hen just may not be fertile anymore which is a bummer since I wanted her genes! The young hen Feeobe has been laying for a bit now, hopefully these new eggs will be more stable maybe than this batch

 

[Nabiki]

Well, it's officially lockdown, waiting for the humidity checker to recalibrate to see what I gotta raise it to, but after setting 15 eggs we have a drumroll please ... Two. I candled them all and it was obvious, 13 looked clear, you could see the yolk floating in the white, and these two were heavy, dark, "filled" looking. While I'm very happy it hopefully won't be a single chick, but God am I cutting it close. I'm gonna keep an eye on craiglist for if anyone's selling chicks this week too, in case I end up with a lonely baby. At least I have more eggs to set but this is a bummer first batch lol. It's two eggs from the same fee hen, with either the roux boy or grey/tux boy, well see!

View attachment 4174871

Good luck!

 

[CascadiaRiver]

Gotta leave for work, it dipped to 25% humidity when I checked on it first thing, bumped it to 65% but I gotta leave so fingers crossed it all stays good I hope to either have 2 or 0 but having one would be heartbreaking

 

[Susan Skylark]

How old were your males when the eggs were set? If they are in that 9-12 week range, your poor fertility rates might just be due to awkward teenagerness. I was so excited to get chicks out of my expensive male (the only bird I kept out of a 40 egg hatch!) that I isolated him and several lady friends the second he turned 9 weeks. I got one egg out of over a dozen! I did throw some random flock eggs in as well so the poor guy had chums but I was a bit worried about my boy’s fertility. I tried again a month later and had 11/15 fertile (3 out of the same hen were duds, I’m guessing she didn’t like the boy) though at hatch 3 of them are definitely not his (a pansy/Italian cross doesn’t throw Rosetta and he isn’t a roux carrier but one chick is roux as well) but the rest are likely his though I waited a good week before collecting eggs (proof bird semen can survive over a week in the hen’s repro tract!). So if your boys are a little young, give them a bit more time before worrying about their fertility as well as lonely chicks!

 

[CascadiaRiver]

They're young, I thought we were well last 12 weeks by that point but it's probably why. I've been collecting eggs still so after these hatch I'll be setting many more! I believe one of the eggs started it's first pip, I hope it happens overnight because if I have to go through another day at work with baited breath I might pass out

 

[CascadiaRiver]

First of all, no changes overnight. It held humidity nicely and while as exciting as this is here at home, there might be a rabbit giving birth at work so it'll be busy everywhere today

Second of all, holy shit this poor girl! She's only a few months old and not only laying like a monster, but now with some HUGE eggs! It's hard to tell in the photo and I didn't have my scale at the moment but my old hens eggs are small, fairly round (top two, no "dust") whereas the young Feeobe hen lays nice big eggs every single day and then woof! That's a big egg in the middle! It doesn't fit in my egg tray! Same size as some OEGB eggs I've gotten lol now the question is do I crack it and see what's inside or incubate it next round?

 

[catesquire]

It's almost certainly a double (or triple) yolker, and twins don't generally survive incubation. AKA: eat it, yum!

 

[CascadiaRiver]

One tiny baby so far! He cried in there for at least 4 hours before the family took him out (he was dry by then). They floated the other egg after I left for work, no wiggles but it still appears alive so hoping it'll pop out! Today should be day 17 so hopefully his brother will start hatching soon! Really don't want a solo baby, I was hoping they'd hatch closer together!