Alas, not such a great quail hatch.

[Denninmi]

Out of 25 eggs, this is the final score:

1 broken in shipment (well, when I tried to repair a tiny puncture with candle wax I broke it all the way)

3 left in the incubator at this point, which is day 19. I highly doubt they're alive, no signs of life. These 3 are so dark-shelled I can't tell anything.

14 discarded at various points -- about half of them last night. I started looking and checking, and, while I perhaps should have maybe given them longer, it wouldn't have made a difference because most of them were just rotten eggs inside. A few look like they had started, I don't think most of them ever started to develop.

1 baby hatched out yesterday morning and looked OK at first but died a few hours later for some unknown reason.

But, ...

FIVE healthy looking ones running around in the brooder.

So, 5/25 is a 20% success rate.

Which is a little disappointing, but ...

... I went on ebay and ordered 20 more button eggs and 50 coturnix. I know it's summer and all, but hey, they're cheap, and hopefully SOME will make it.

I figure if I can get 10 or 12 of each species, C. chinensis and C. coturnix, that is enough for a breeding population, and then I can just hatch my own, fresh unshipped eggs if I wish.

Thanks for all of your support during this little experiment.

For those that requested pictures, I wish I had the capability at this time, but I'm still on dial up and it takes FOREVER to upload one picture. I am planning on getting rid of my AOL account within the next month and getting some kind of high speed connection.

PS -- edited to add - I thought there were a couple more pipped yesterday AM -- well, I'm just plain dumb. What I thought were pips were just bumps in the shell on one (the normal kind of shell lumps you see sometimes) and just a piece of crud stuck to the shell on the second one. Both were just rotten eggs. The funny thing is, I held one up to my ear and swore it was pecking inside -- wishful thinking.

 

[RhodeIslandReds]

Where are you located? You should look at buying eggs closer to where you live shipment doesnt help the eggs.
Hopefully you get better hatches on the next eggs.

Truly,
RIrs

 

[Denninmi]

Quote:
Not really a good option for me, but I wish it were. I live in the 'burbs of Detroit, and I haven't found local sources for much of anything agricultural, bird related or otherwise. There is one feed store close to where I work, and another about 20 miles in the opposite direction. There is also one TSC way out in Ortonville, Michigan about 25 miles away on the semi-rural fringe of Detroit's northern 'burbs. Mail order is generally my best option.

Now, if I wanted to find a million Starbucks outlets or five thousand Rite-Aids or CVS Pharmacies, that would be easy.

 

[Schroeder]

I had a very bad hatch the first time I bought eggs through the mail. (9 of 45). They were packed very well with just a couple broken. The next time (just recently) from a different seller, only 12 of 60 hatched. At the same time I put the 60 mailed-eggs in the incubator, I added 13 of my own eggs that were 1 and 2 days old. Twelve of my 13 hatched! It just convinced me that eggs bought through the mail is a risky proposition.

 

[Denninmi]

Quote:
I agree, but OTOH, I still think of it as cheap entertainment, albeit nervewracking. For the roughly $20 I spent on the first batch of quail eggs with the shipping, it kept me occupied for quite a few hours, and I have the five babies to watch develop -- I couldn't buy them at a pet store for $4 to $5 each.

I think ebay eggs are a pretty good bargain overall when I compare the prices to what some of the hatcheries charge. I agree it's a risk. OTOH, I ordered 6 Royal Palm turkey eggs in April off of ebay and now have 6 Royal Palm turkeys -- 9 eggs shipped, 7 hatched, one was deformed and couldn't walk, but buy 6 get 6 is really good IMO -- I know it was just beginners luck, but I'm happy with it. Both the turkey eggs and button eggs came very well packed -- frankly, I wouldn't spend the time and effort they did and ask the prices they were asking, too cheap IMO.