An egg hatched!!

[kateb77777]

So I've never incubated quail eggs (or any eggs!) before and thought I had overheated them early on so they wouldn't hatch but one actually did! so excited!!!
But none of the other eggs are moving though or seem like they are doing anything, how long can this first quail stay in the incubator? it's in lockdown as of yesterday (day 15) and this quail hatched today. is it just an early one? I thought they tend to hatch in groups?

it is so tiny and cute I hope it survives.

 

[rlchatham]

A little controversy surrounding this topic, but, I personally don't take out the hatched chicks until they are dry and no other eggs have pipped. I have kept the newly hatched chicks in the incubator for 24 hrs before and they were perfectly fine, too. Just my take. I am not an expert. Only an semi-experienced homestead breeder. Good luck and congratulations!

 

[TwoChicksChix]

Usually birds can survive a few days on the yolk that they absorbed in the egg. I keep my chickens for 3 days or until everyone has hatched.

For quail, I do usually two days. Don’t be surprised that only one hatched so far. I had a chick hatch on Wednesday when his buddies weren’t due till today. Only now do I have another’s pip. Some just want to be the early bird.

 

[007Sean]

I remove mine between 18 to 24 hours. If none others have pipped, I may remove them sooner.

 

[JanetMarie]

I get them out ASAP. Sometimes even before they're dried off. As chicks hatch bacteria builds up inside the incubator, so leaving chicks inside with bacteria building up in a high humidity environment could cause disease, and they dry off faster outside of the incubator.

Even though they CAN go three days on their yolk sac, what I've witnessed is after about 1 &1/2 to 2 days after hatching the chicks are pulling/pecking on their mom's face because they're ready to eat. Also in a brooder they're ready to eat in the same amount of time.

 

[TwoChicksChix]

Be aware though that every time you open the incubator you risk damage to your other chicks. They can dry up and get stuck to their shell. Then they aren’t able to escape and basically die of exhaustion, hunger, being pecked, or lack of oxygen.

 

[JanetMarie]

Be aware though that every time you open the incubator you risk damage to your other chicks. They can dry up and get stuck to their shell. Then they aren’t able to escape and basically die of exhaustion, hunger, being pecked, or lack of oxygen.

Yes this is true, so keep an eye on the humidity level and add more water if needed.

 

[kateb77777]

Thank you all, really appreciate the replies!!