Quispherer
In the Brooder
- Aug 26, 2025
- 16
- 16
- 28
Hey there general BYC incubating forum! I'm usually exclusively in the quail forum but would love to get as much wisdom as possible from all kinds of hatchers 
I have some smaller than normal BobWhite Quail eggs that I assumed wouldn't develop but absolutely are. Wondering if I should do anything to make it more likely for them to survive? I had a major issue with malpositioned chicks in a hatch 2 weeks ago so I'm kind of anxious about the same happening here and losing the majority of the chicks at hatch. Early quitters I can handle, even embryo deaths, but fully formed chicks dying at hatch hurts my heart 
My understanding is they incubate almost exactly the same as chickens, tending to hatch out between day 21-23, so chicken people please feel free to advise.
So long version: I got my eggs 2 weeks or so ago, and did my usual procedure for shipped eggs, candle for damage and wonky air cells, set them in the incubator for 3 days before starting the turner. I'm trying to be hands off as much as possible but candling absolutely fascinates me so I've checked them 3 or 4 times over their first 15 days, which is where we are now.
Pictured above is one normal egg and two small eggs, all developing perfectly on schedule. They are sitting in quail sized egg turners and still look tiny
That's one of the small ones between my thumb and index finger, looking beautiful and showing movement.
And a normal egg showing a similar air cell and same level of development, just like.. normal size haha. You can see it is both larger and more rounded, seemingly giving the chick more space? Pretty cool that the yolk is visible, with pics like these how could I not be obsessed with candling
But anyway.
Since my disaster hatch, I've started upping the humidity by 5%-8% the last week and stopping the turner 5 days before hatch instead of the usual 3, both of these are in an effort to make sure the chicks can position themselves properly. It worked for my Valley Quail, which are also prone to malpositioning so I feel like this helped?
Would the smaller eggs benefit from not turning at this point? Is there any real detriment to not turning once the chicks skin is formed? From what I've read they're far enough developed, there's no real need to turn them as theres no longer a risk of the skin and membrane forming improperly together. But I know turning until 3 days before hatch is kind of the way its always been done and everyone recommends doing it that way, so surely everyone does it for a reason?
Would love any advice from others who have hatched extra small eggs. Not quite fairy eggs since clearly they must have yolks haha, but small enough.
Thanks a ton BYC peoples
I have some smaller than normal BobWhite Quail eggs that I assumed wouldn't develop but absolutely are. Wondering if I should do anything to make it more likely for them to survive? I had a major issue with malpositioned chicks in a hatch 2 weeks ago so I'm kind of anxious about the same happening here and losing the majority of the chicks at hatch. Early quitters I can handle, even embryo deaths, but fully formed chicks dying at hatch hurts my heart My understanding is they incubate almost exactly the same as chickens, tending to hatch out between day 21-23, so chicken people please feel free to advise.
So long version: I got my eggs 2 weeks or so ago, and did my usual procedure for shipped eggs, candle for damage and wonky air cells, set them in the incubator for 3 days before starting the turner. I'm trying to be hands off as much as possible but candling absolutely fascinates me so I've checked them 3 or 4 times over their first 15 days, which is where we are now.
Pictured above is one normal egg and two small eggs, all developing perfectly on schedule. They are sitting in quail sized egg turners and still look tiny
That's one of the small ones between my thumb and index finger, looking beautiful and showing movement.
And a normal egg showing a similar air cell and same level of development, just like.. normal size haha. You can see it is both larger and more rounded, seemingly giving the chick more space? Pretty cool that the yolk is visible, with pics like these how could I not be obsessed with candling
But anyway.
Since my disaster hatch, I've started upping the humidity by 5%-8% the last week and stopping the turner 5 days before hatch instead of the usual 3, both of these are in an effort to make sure the chicks can position themselves properly. It worked for my Valley Quail, which are also prone to malpositioning so I feel like this helped?
Would the smaller eggs benefit from not turning at this point? Is there any real detriment to not turning once the chicks skin is formed? From what I've read they're far enough developed, there's no real need to turn them as theres no longer a risk of the skin and membrane forming improperly together. But I know turning until 3 days before hatch is kind of the way its always been done and everyone recommends doing it that way, so surely everyone does it for a reason?
Would love any advice from others who have hatched extra small eggs. Not quite fairy eggs since clearly they must have yolks haha, but small enough.
Thanks a ton BYC peoples
