Are my quail eggs dead?

[MROOD]

So I bought 12 fertilised quail eggs from a farm on eBay
They sent it safely in foam
I then incubated the eggs on a home made incubator using body temperature as a guide
I mean birds sit on their eggs so cant be that difficult to work out whats to hot and cold

My machine did switch off multiple times and the eggs lost temperature, not cold but room temps, only for a few hours at a time

I have tried to candle the eggs with my LED torch and cant see anything coz the eggshells have dark patches everywhere
I cant determine anything by the weight and today I put the eggs in a bowl of warm water to see if they moved, none of the eggs moved in the water, dead still

its day 16/17 and I think I botched the whole batch, shame really as I feel like a murderer.

I dont want to prematurely open an egg in case i kill a chick and like I said I cant see anything, i mean i did notice a green gap on the top of a egg, but shouldn't it move in water? like a heartbeat?

So I bought myself a new proper incubator with an internal egg mover, bought a thermometer to set the right temps and bought a new batch of eggs

But is my 1st batch dead?

 

[BelovedBirds]

So I bought 12 fertilised quail eggs from a farm on eBay
They sent it safely in foam
I then incubated the eggs on a home made incubator using body temperature as a guide
I mean birds sit on their eggs so cant be that difficult to work out whats to hot and cold

Assuming this incubator is still air (no fan to circulate) it should be warmer than that I think. To be clear, is it set to about 99.5F? This is the ideal temperature for a forced air incubator, bit a still air incubator should be higher, about 100.5-101.5F.
If the temp has been a little cool for your incubator, it is possible that the hatch will be delayed, I don't reccomend changing the temperature as it is also possible the thermometer is a bit off. Eggs can hatch in cooler temps, but their development will be slowed.

My machine did switch off multiple times and the eggs lost temperature, not cold but room temps, only for a few hours at a time

This furthers the possibility of them being delayed

I have tried to candle the eggs with my LED torch and cant see anything coz the eggshells have dark patches everywhere

Yeah it's super awkward to candle them, at this point I think it is best to sit back and wait.

I cant determine anything by the weight and today I put the eggs in a bowl of warm water to see if they moved, none of the eggs moved in the water, dead still

This is controversial but in my opinion water candling isn't really reliable or particularly safe. (a sleeping chick will probably be still etc) Putting the eggs in water introduces bacteria to them. It's best to water candle as an absolute last resort, 16/17 days is pretty on time, so I wouldn't be messing with them personally.

its day 16/17 and I think I botched the whole batch, shame really as I feel like a murderer.

I dont want to prematurely open an egg in case i kill a chick and like I said I cant see anything, i mean i did notice a green gap on the top of a egg, but shouldn't it move in water? like a heartbeat?

Not always. Do you mean the air cell when you say "green gap"? When you light candle, make sure you hold the torch against the air cell end of the egg (the big end) and look for shadows and little flicking movements from the dark shadow inside.

So I bought myself a new proper incubator with an internal egg mover, bought a thermometer to set the right temps and bought a new batch of eggs

But is my 1st batch dead?

Only time can tell. What type of quail is this? Some types don't hatch until 17-18 days, if I remember correctly. 16/17 is still pretty early to write them off. I would leave them be and wait. Its entirely possible that the batch has passed, but give it 2-3 days I would say.

I'm no expert, just repeating what I learned from my one time experience with quail eggs.
Best of luck, and hope others can chime in with better experience.