Bad hatch need advice...

[Petermariah]

First time using an incubator. I got a Farm House Innovator 4250. With automatic quail egg turner. I ordered 48 Celadon eggs from a good breeder. I kept my temp at 99 and my humidity in the 50%s. Lockdown on day 15 and humidity up to 70%. On day 19 I hatched 6 chicks but it was like hours between each one. Day 20 I got 4 more also took a long time with each one. At this point one had very noticeable curled toes and a second one had one foot curled but still hobbled around. I moved the ten to the brooder. The humidity did not drop very much during this move I live in South Texas so it’s naturally very humid here. Day 21 two more hatched. One of those two legs were stuck out straight just stayed on it’s back all the time. By this time also the two others from day 20 with curled toes started also with the legs flexed straight and could not move eat or drink. They started shaking and trembling a lot almost like little seizures. Tried egg yolk mixed with water and a pinch of yeast, those three would not eat at all. My husband dispatched them humanely. I didn’t want them to suffer. Day 22 nothing hatched but 8 pipped and I could see beak movement on all 8. Day 23 four of the 8 hatched and three more pipped. The four that hatched needed help they were like glued into their shells. The other 4 of the 8 that were pipped were dead in their shells. I still have four more pipped that I suspect are also dead. Because they have not progressed or shown movement in over 24 hrs. The four that hatched on Day 23 all have messed up legs like the others. One looks like really deformed. Two have curled toes can stand but not walk and one just lays on its back with straight legs cannot sit up. Those four are still in the incubator now. They were dry when they hatched. Not wet like the others. I have another 28 eggs that haven’t pipped. So I have 10 very healthy chicks out of 48. I’m pretty sure those four will not make it and no more will hatch. That seems like a really poor outcome. I’m trying to figure out what I did wrong. It has to be an incubator issue. Could the gauges on my incubator be off? In trying to figure out what I did wrong. This is my first time with quail and with using an incubator but I did a lot of research before hand. I’m ordering 30 more eggs from a different breeder this time not celadon just a variety of colors but I want to make sure I do better next time. Any advice is welcome.

 

[CovidtimeQuail]

I'd guess it's a temperature issue with the incubator, given how far apart each of the hatchings were. I had a similar issue. Here's my fix:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...le-giant-still-air-incubator-9300-hack.76242/

FWIW, I would never buy a still air incubator again (not sure if your model has a fan or not, but it needs one).

 

[Pequena ave]

Hello
The humidity is too high, see web search quote below. Quail eggs will do just find at 35+ % until lock down given the fact that the air is also very humid. I live where the air is very dry and still use 35% then increase to 55% at lock down. I would drown my chick's at 70% humidity. I had 10 dead in shell fully developed that did not pip at high humidity as that's what I read I should do also at lock down.

Also your temp was little low. Should be 99.5, if not forced air the temp needs to be higher. I normally turn down heat to 99 or sometimes even 98.5 with forced air at lock down with good results. The chick's are producing heat so as not to over heat them. I think both humidity and temp have caused a bad batch. My first experiment with new incubator I only put in 5 fertile eggs and 7 dubs to help stabilize humidity etc. And to see how the incubator behaved, every area is different so need to get to know the incubator 1st before setting more eggs. Learned from my mistakes before committing to a huge batch. I do believe I had 4/5 hatch. If I find I'm needing to help out a few chick's then I will increase humidity by 5 % at lockdown the following hatch. Find a balance somewhere in between. Hope this helps.

Quote: High humidity tends to produce a late hatch; low humidity an early hatch. Do not turn the eggs the last three days of incubation. The embryos are moving into hatching position and do not need to be turned.

 

[Petermariah]

This is the description of the incubator so it does circulate the air. This incubator cost $150 on Amazon. And I purchased the quail egg rails for the turner. I also forgot to mention that once they started hatching I took out the two red air plugs and my humidity was not affected by this. So do you think my temp was too high or too low? Should I be placing other temp and humidity gauges inside the incubator? I’m also wondering if shipping played a factor in it because I was told that USPS would keep the eggs at 50 degrees but they were warm when they were delivered and it was like 75 degrees out that day. They were shipping for like 2-3 days. I really thought they would all hatch within 1-2 days and not drag on for 4-5 days like this. The water in the bottom of the incubator is now getting rank. I think tomorrow morning I will try the floating water trick on the 30 or so un-pipped eggs. I think they are all dead.

• Automatic egg turner turns the eggs completely every 4 hours to eliminate manual handling and improve hatch rate (41 egg capacity)
• An integrated fan pulls in and circulates fresh air to stabilize temperature and improve hatch
• An easy to read digital display shows temperature, humidity, and days to hatch (adjustable for a variety of eggs)
• High/low temperature notification light flashes when temperature is below 97°F or above 103°F
• Includes egg candler to monitor development progress of the eggs
• Large picture window provides a 360° unobstructed view inside the incubator

 

[Pequena ave]

As a side note, I would like to mention I got my first eggs from the grocery store. The 1st two batches failed, I emailed the company who supplied the eggs and asked some questions, said I was doing my own research etc etc. He stated that the best before date was 75 days, so count backwards and that will give you the date the eggs were laid. I picked up 2 trays (36 eggs total) that were 10 days old with this method. I only put in the largest of the eggs so out of 26 eggs I got 12 chick's. And this is how I started my quail flock for the price of 2 pkgs of eggs. Enjoy..

 

[CovidtimeQuail]

This is the description of the incubator so it does circulate the air. This incubator cost $150 on Amazon. And I purchased the quail egg rails for the turner. I also forgot to mention that once they started hatching I took out the two red air plugs and my humidity was not affected by this. So do you think my temp was too high or too low? Should I be placing other temp and humidity gauges inside the incubator? I’m also wondering if shipping played a factor in it because I was told that USPS would keep the eggs at 50 degrees but they were warm when they were delivered and it was like 75 degrees out that day. They were shipping for like 2-3 days. I really thought they would all hatch within 1-2 days and not drag on for 4-5 days like this. The water in the bottom of the incubator is now getting rank. I think tomorrow morning I will try the floating water trick on the 30 or so un-pipped eggs. I think they are all dead.

• Automatic egg turner turns the eggs completely every 4 hours to eliminate manual handling and improve hatch rate (41 egg capacity)
• An integrated fan pulls in and circulates fresh air to stabilize temperature and improve hatch
• An easy to read digital display shows temperature, humidity, and days to hatch (adjustable for a variety of eggs)
• High/low temperature notification light flashes when temperature is below 97°F or above 103°F
• Includes egg candler to monitor development progress of the eggs
• Large picture window provides a 360° unobstructed view inside the incubator

With the first hatch on day 19, your temperature was likely too low. 100 degrees is probably better than 99 degrees, but you probably should have had more hatch if that was the true consistent temperature inside. 50 percent humidity for the first 15 days is a bit high -- I don't have much choice myself, since Hawaii is subtropical to begin with. Mine runs around 45 percent while dry.

Shipped eggs are always a lotto ticket, so don't beat yourself up over it. I also had just a handful of chicks (seven of them) on the first try. I think the ten you have will keep you busy. Welcome to the world of quail.

 

[Petermariah]

Humidity in my house is like 50%. I don’t think I could get it that low if I tried. Maybe if I didn’t put water at all? It’s 94% humidity outside right now I live in South Texas. The thing is that those last few eggs were like super dry. The membranes were stuck to the chicks and they hatched with mostly dry feathers. The first ones that hatched were wet. So that is why I was thinking too hot or too dry but it sounds like now too wet and too cold? Just trying to wrap my head around this. So the temp being slightly low maybe causes a slow hatch and that is why they dry out because they have pipped for too long exposed to air for more than 24 hrs? Is that why they were dry even at 70% humidity? And then the high humidity caused many to never pip at all (drowned)? Also is the reason for the messed up legs because they were too long in the shell? I do feel like the first two days they were healthier chicks except for those 2 on the 2nd days. Happily the other ten are hopping around eating drinking pooping and appear very healthy.

 

[Petermariah]

Well I did pay over $100 for these 48 eggs but I got a really good mixture of colors for the ten survivors. I have quite a few tuxedo which I love. I have one pharaoh one Rosetta one Italian one Tibetan solid and the rest are tuxedo. One scarlet tux two silver tux and the rest (4) are Tibetan tux. I watched some videos about the colors and I’m pretty sure I have identified them correctly. The breeder promises 50% true blue. The solid Tibetan I call my runt because he’s like half the size of the others but he runs around and gobbles up food and seems to be thriving just fine. My goal is to have 25 hens and about 5 roosters that will be kept in a large run natural type snake proof habitat (no tiny cages) so I will be ordering some more from a different farm in KC I think I’m going to order a variety color pack (not celadon). I think they offer a 30 egg package. I just really don’t want to kill any more babies. I’m going to do as suggested and increase my temp and lower my humidity. I’m also going to buy some gauges to place throughout to make sure my readings are accurate. Any other suggestions?

 

[Pequena ave]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/quail-hatched-with-curled-toes.844629/

Curled toes is due to humidity issues see link above.

I did read the description, it sure costs a lot more here in Canada, like twice the amount, but over all seems like a good incubator. What was the humidity level in the air when you said it’s very humid, how humid? Normally the temp should be 99.5 until lock down, so I think it was too low which is why it was a long hatch, but again what was the air temp in house? If the humidity in the outdoor air is high, you don’t need to add as much water to keep humidity up, trial and error.

Quote: Should I be placing other temp and humidity gauges inside the incubator? Absolutely!!!!!

Keeping the eggs at 50 degrees was fine for 2-3 days of shipping unless they actually weren’t ??, better cooler then too warm and if one day @ 75 degrees when delivered, that won’t hurt either. Shipping period is also VERY hard on the eggs, the hatch rate is 30% or less. I have never had shipped eggs, my first chicks were from the grocery store (yup) and thereafter from my own eggs. Yes they normally do hatch within 1 or 2 days, but I do believe the temp and humidity played a double whammy on your eggs. I think the eggs are starting to smell, not the water as 4 to 5 days past due is beyond hope. We always hope but need to give up eventually, the floating water trick is good to use too. I would do that too since you have sooo many eggs left. It’s so sad to see all the chicks that don’t hatch, it never gets any easier with each hatch thereafter.

 

[CovidtimeQuail]

Humidity in my house is like 50%. I don’t think I could get it that low if I tried. Maybe if I didn’t put water at all? It’s 94% humidity outside right now I live in South Texas. The thing is that those last few eggs were like super dry. The membranes were stuck to the chicks and they hatched with mostly dry feathers. The first ones that hatched were wet. So that is why I was thinking too hot or too dry but it sounds like now too wet and too cold? Just trying to wrap my head around this. So the temp being slightly low maybe causes a slow hatch and that is why they dry out because they have pipped for too long exposed to air for more than 24 hrs? Is that why they were dry even at 70% humidity? And then the high humidity caused many to never pip at all (drowned)? Also is the reason for the messed up legs because they were too long in the shell? I do feel like the first two days they were healthier chicks except for those 2 on the 2nd days. Happily the other ten are hopping around eating drinking pooping and appear very healthy.

Humidity here is currently 84 percent. I run the incubator dry. The incubator fan dries it out a little bit more too. Don't add water, but other than that I wouldn't obsess over it. The first time, I ran a dehumidifier but it turns out it wasn't necessary.