August Hatch along?

[anvia]

They are jumbo golden quail?
We’ve not had great results in this incubator with hen eggs - so we are also incubating the eggs on their sides - not what the manual advises... so two new things....
what could possibly go wrong?

 

[igorsMistress]

They are jumbo golden quail?
We’ve not had great results in this incubator with hen eggs - so we are also incubating the eggs on their sides - not what the manual advises... so two new things....
what could possibly go wrong?

Not a darn thing!

I used an incubator for part of the time but honestly, I didn't care for it. Another thing to babysit.

Are you raising for meat?

 

[anvia]

I haven’t got the right insert for quail for my trusted incubator.... & I’m trying not to spend any more money... after buying a load of rabbit hutches and a “with a bit of work it will be fine” quail enclosure...
I need to work out what I’m doing wrong in this incubator anyway.... we get a lot of late stage death eggs.

Quail = seemed like a good idea at the time!
If we hatch & raise anything successfully either eggs or meat will be most welcome.

 

[Sakai]

A quick question. I've been reading various different answers but I'm still learly after the first failed hatch. What humidity should we set the eggs? I've seen everything from 20%-60% I know at the end it's elevated to 75%. I just need to know what the starting humidity should be.
Is this something that everyone has different answers for? LOL

 

[anvia]

A quick question. I've been reading various different answers but I'm still learly after the first failed hatch. What humidity should we set the eggs? I've seen everything from 20%-60% I know at the end it's elevated to 75%. I just need to know what the starting humidity should be.
Is this something that everyone has different answers for? LOL

Probably something everyone has a different answer for!
I have 3 incubators, 2 of them are the same make/ model and I do different things in each one!

Have you got a hygrometer? & do you trust it? & whereabouts in the world are you - what is your natural humidity?

I’ve learned over the years that incubating dry and then upping humidity at lockdown for the hatch seems to work best - but I’m in the uk.

 

[Sakai]

I do and the trust is so-so. I'm off to get a second one right now.
I live in Arizona, Whch is normally dry, but it's monsoon right now.
At the moment the humidty out side is 36% but if a storm rolls in that can jump to over 60% within the hour. and then drop back to the mid 30's when the storm leaves.

 

[igorsMistress]

I do and the trust is so-so. I'm off to get a second one right now.
I live in Arizona, Whch is normally dry, but it's monsoon right now.
At the moment the humidty out side is 36% but if a storm rolls in that can jump to over 60% within the hour. and then drop back to the mid 30's when the storm leaves.

@BlueBaby sets hers at 45% until lockdown. Mine was a little higher and I had to let some out the last few days because air cells were a bit small..we are both in AZ

 

[anvia]

It’s humidid here right now - feels like we are waiting for a storm - my room hygrometer reads 80% which isn’t at all usual for here. The one in my dry incubator is reading 32%. I’m currently aiming for 30% - ish (coz that’s what the internet consensus says I should be hatching quail at! Never done this before - so I’m happy to learn).
If it drops I’ll add a damp paper towel - I find that’s better than filling the reservoirs - I get a faster change in conditions. If it rises i’ll close the vents

I keep the incubator in an obvious place & both the temp & humidity are easily readable - we all check & react if we need to.

Remember eggs are evaporating moisture and the incubator provides a micro climate too. But if Arizona is normal dry - you might need to add moisture?

You said you’d had a bad hatch before - what did you do that time? Was it wet or dry? If wet was it sponges / paper or reservoirs? Do you know what your humidity was last time?

Sorry lots of questions! But I don’t think it’s a one size fits all answer - it’s a personal learning curve for your environment - I’ve also learned to have a room hygrometer next to the incubator so I know what my environment is actually doing and how I can react. Ie opening a vent one day might lower humidity - a different day it might raise it.
I hope that makes sense!

 

[MichelleBelle]

Guys, I think I need to get a different incubator. I'm using a Little Giant with air fan and auto turner. Yesterday was lockdown for me. Started with 13, had 9 going in to lockdown. At final candling before lockdown, it appeared that another 4 or 5 were late quitters. And to my dismay I just glanced at the incubator window only to discover a chick pipped ALREADY (Day 19) and pipped outside of the air cell!! I decided to intervene, and have poked the tiniest of holes through the membrane so that air can reach the poor baby while it (hopefully!!) continues to absorb the yolk and develop to full term. It is most definitely not ready to emerge, as I can see a bit of blood from damage to vessels where the beak poked through. Is there any way I can keep this little one put until a more favorable time to emerge? The chick appears to be content to rest for the time being but I'm terrified this one is going to bust on out before it's ready, like I had a problem with last time. This is really frustrating. I'm beginning to question whether my thermometer is accurate...

 

[MichelleBelle]

Also- is there any reason that a chick would pip outside of the air cell just a few hours after lockdown? Did I lockdown too late?? I locked down at end of Day 18.