Hi guys! I'm really new to this forum, and quail lol. I've been trying to hatch coturnix and have had bad results. My first hatch I put in 28 eggs and only one hatched. :-( I have a hovabator still air incubator. I kept it at 101F and the humidity where I am is at about 54% so I didn't put any water in the tray. I only turned them about 3 times a day. I don't know if it's me or the eggs were infertile. The one little guy that hatched came out on day 17 with no problems. I only had one pip and die in the egg. The last batch was from an eBay seller in Texas. This time I went with an assortment from Strombergs chicks. I just got 14 ready to set.I just got them today so I'm letting them rest. I plan to put them in tomorrow. Do i need to turn them more. Can/should I prop them up a little rather than laying them mostly on their sides? Also can i put something soft under them in the incubator to cover up the mesh? Or will that dry them out? What do you guys think? Please help me it's such a bummer they didn't hatch last time. I want to make sure I'm doing everything right. Thanks, Kate
Because of the heat in the incubator your humidity inside of it will be significantly lower than in your house. You are dry incubating in a still air unit, not a combo for success. I would shoot for 50% humidity during incubation and 65% during hatch. Another thing that will help immensely is if you added a small pc fan inside. Still air units are notorious for hot and cold spots so success rates are known to be lower than forced air units.
Thanks! This is probably a dumb question but can I put something under them to protect them from the wire mesh or will it absorb to much of the moisture?
