Advice on hatching Quail?

[DUCKGIRL89]

So, I've hatched birds before. Lots and LOTS of duck eggs, a few dozen chicken eggs, and a couple geese eggs. So how are Quail different? What should I know about hatching quail? My dad has the chance to get his hands on some Corturnix Quail and wants to start hatching their eggs right away, yet neither of us know anything about hatching quails.

So here are a few of my questions, that I hope can be answered.


1) What should the humidity level be?

2) What should the temperature be set at?

3) How long does it take for the embryos to develop?

4) When should lockdown start/end?

5) Which is better; manually flipping the eggs, or using an automatic turner?
And if manually flipping is better, how long should I go before flipping again?

6) How many times should I candle them before lockdown?


Alright, so I know that's a lot of questions. I just don't want to accidentally mess something up. I'd much rather be safe than sorry. Thank you in advance.

~Madison

 

[Lalegid]

I've hatched quail only once so I'm no expert! My 2nd lot are due to hatch any time soon... just waiting now!
I kept the humidity and temperature the same as chicken hatching. Coturnix quail take around 17 days, I lock down and stop turning at day 12. I manually turn them. I don't candle my quail eggs, they seem to be quite dark and hard to see through.
Hope that helps!

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

X2 I do quail the same as chicken eggs.
Temp - 37.5 Celsius
Humidity - 45% day 1-14 then 65% for lockdown.
Hand turning 5x per day although auto turner is less work and just as good.

I candle day 7 day 10 and then 14 at lockdown. I use a Brinsea ova view candler and it works quite well on the quail eggs.

Wishing you the very best of luck, quail are such fun and like little bumble bees when they hatch