Abandoned Quail Eggs- Advice Please!

[maxride14]

If I were you, I would stop turning them. Recent studies have shown that even eggs that were not turned at all during incubation still have approximately a 65% hatch rate. However, continuing to turn once they are getting close to hatch can result in the chicks being malpositioned and dying in the shell. My opinion is, you put them in lockdown. Candle first. Take out any egg that doesn't appear to have a chick filling up the shell. At this point, any viable egg should be full of chick. It's better to discard any egg that isn't because you don't want them to explode or potentially spread bacteria to the other eggs. If you have any that you are questioning, please feel free to take pictures of them being candled and post them.

Ok so I checked six eggs so far and right now they're in a carton so I can remember which ones I picked out. I have a few questions about these eggs. They look further behind but I still see some small movement within the membrane of two. One egg is completely dark. What do I do about the eggs in these pics? I think I see movement but they must be further behind in development.

The last pic is more orange in person but it has a darker stripe near the right side if you can see it.
Edit: Checked all the eggs and they all look like the ones in the pic except about four of the eggs. The one that I thought was wiggling is completely dark except for the round area at the bottom of the egg, which is whiter. I'm guessing he only has a day or two based on pics of candling cortunix eggs. Will it be a problem if I take the chick out earlier than expected? I'm nervous about the chick getting stuck between the shelf and the incubator door. I can attach pics if it helps.

 

[Quailobsessed]

I would stop turning them. They're supposed to go into lock-down (no turning) last few days, otherwise they can't get into correct hatching position.

California quail eggs also take 21-24 days, and my one hatched about day 23. There's still hope

 

[maadroj]

Any updates?

For what it's worth, last year I incubated 15 eggs. They developed at different speeds--maybe the incubator heat was uneven, I don't know. So when I put them in lockdown, some of them didn't look ready for it yet. But 14 of the 15 hatched within 4 days of each other. So I would also suggest putting them all in lockdown now, especially having @Momto6kiddos info about hatchrate without any turning at all.

 

[Momto6kiddos]

Ok so I checked six eggs so far and right now they're in a carton so I can remember which ones I picked out. I have a few questions about these eggs. They look further behind but I still see some small movement within the membrane of two. One egg is completely dark. What do I do about the eggs in these pics? I think I see movement but they must be further behind in development.
View attachment 2120872View attachment 2120873View attachment 2120874
The last pic is more orange in person but it has a darker stripe near the right side if you can see it.
Edit: Checked all the eggs and they all look like the ones in the pic except about four of the eggs. The one that I thought was wiggling is completely dark except for the round area at the bottom of the egg, which is whiter. I'm guessing he only has a day or two based on pics of candling cortunix eggs. Will it be a problem if I take the chick out earlier than expected? I'm nervous about the chick getting stuck between the shelf and the incubator door. I can attach pics if it helps.

Would it be possible for you to take pictures from the air cell end? It can be hard to tell from the side when they're farther along. Those pictures don't look like viable eggs to me but it could just be positioning.

 

[Momto6kiddos]

Also, if it would be helpful, I can take pictures of the development of my eggs. Mine are coturnix but you can compare stage oof development rather than day of development. For example, I have 5 that are starting day 17, which is typical hatch day, 2 on day 16, then others that range from day 9-13.

 

[maxride14]

Would it be possible for you to take pictures from the air cell end? It can be hard to tell from the side when they're farther along. Those pictures don't look like viable eggs to me but it could just be positioning.

Because the one far along is wiggling a little, I don't think I should take them out again. But I would appreciate pics of yours, and I can tell you what they looked like.

Any updates?

For what it's worth, last year I incubated 15 eggs. They developed at different speeds--maybe the incubator heat was uneven, I don't know. So when I put them in lockdown, some of them didn't look ready for it yet. But 14 of the 15 hatched within 4 days of each other. So I would also suggest putting them all in lockdown now, especially having @Momto6kiddos info about hatchrate without any turning at all.

Nothing has hatched yet, but I'm the one that I saw wiggling yesterday (and super dark in the candling) is wiggling a little bit. I'm thinking that once this one hatches (he seems the furthest along) then I'll wait four days for the rest and start removing them if they really don't seem ready. I think the first two pics are clearer to see; there's an orange center and some have a darker orange spot on one side, but I don't see lots of movement. I think they may have started developing but died, possibly due to being abandoned. I can't be sure though.

I would stop turning them. They're supposed to go into lock-down (no turning) last few days, otherwise they can't get into correct hatching position.

California quail eggs also take 21-24 days, and my one hatched about day 23. There's still hope

Thanks! I'd say three looked pretty good after candling, so I'm hoping that they're able to hatch! I didn't really want to be overrun with 10 quail, so this might be a good thing. I'll keep everyone updated!

 

[TwoCrows]

It is against federal law to harbor wild birds or eggs from native wild birds here in the US. Please see this sticky.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/migratory-bird-treaty-act.1369922/