Best place to buy button quail eggs

[Mwilliams32931]

So I ordered 50 button quail eggs from a group on yahoo. I lost 5 in transport, 3 were duds, and less than half of the ones left hatched. Since then I have lost 3. They are just over 2 weeks old and I am looking for a better place to purchase button quail eggs in case I want to hatch them again.

 

[GrandmaBird]

it is best to try to find them locally as they can be shaken too much during shipping. did the breeder offer any suggestions on the low hatch rate?
Now for the hard questions:
Are you sure your incubator was at the right temp and humidity?

Did you let the eggs sit for 24 hours before placing them in the incubator to let the egg settle?

Did you put them on lockdown on day 13? Not counting the first 24 hour period...meaning if you placed them in on Monday at 9am the first day or day one is After 8 am on Tuesday.

Is your brooder at the correct temp and have you seen the chicks eat and drink?

you can buy eggs from several people on the web but most do not guarantee a certain hatch rate. sorry for your loss. And good luck if you try it again.

 

[Mwilliams32931]

Yes, the temp and humidity were perfect the whole time. I let them set for a little more than 24 hours before I put them in the incubator, and lockdown was on the correct day. My brooder was at the right temp and they all drank and ate. I am beginning to think that it was a bad batch. I lost another one this morning and yesterday the little guy was doing great. I will look into finding them locally. Thank for the tip. Hopefully I will find someone who has them.

 

[SavageChick]

I've ordered shipped eggs from online only once. I live in MN, and the eggs came from ND. Still, out of the 16 eggs that arrived, I ended up having to toss several of them before letting them rest. You may have seen my previous posting about many of the eggs having broken/separated air-sacs as well. I was able to salvage one that had a hairline crack (pinpoint) by applying fingernail polish to the shell -- chick developed and hatched perfectly fine. Although the eggs were packaged well (foam, bubble wrap, etc.), the shipping seems to really beat them up. I was, however, extremely pleased with the variety of colors in the chicks that hatched. Out of the 16 eggs received, 8 of them made it to full hatch. From what I have heard/read from others, this 50/50 percentage rate is pretty good with shipped eggs. If you would like the name of the seller, I can send it to you in a separate message.

 

[Bryam]

What Humidty did you use to hatch your button quail eggs?

 

[GrandmaBird]

50-60% during first stages and up to 65-70 at hatch but be sure you open your ventilation holes then as well so the birds have fresh air. Yes they do breath through the shell. Good luck.

 

[Bryam]

How long did you leave the eggs still before you starting turning them. I just got 50 eggs, I let them rest for 3 hours then I put them up right in my incubator, I was planning to start the turner in 24 hours. Should I leave them sit still longer than that? How can I tell if they have detached aircells? The eggs are so dark and small! So cute!

 

[GrandmaBird]

Most like to have them sit for 12-24 hours before putting in the incubator, due to rough handling it gives the egg time to settle back down. Keep them at cool temps but not in the fridge. And I hope your incubator is not on...well if it is just leave them now you don't want to stop the growth. Yea the shells are dark I would suggest NOT candling them, just be patience they will hatch! Stop turning on day 13 and give them up to 21-22 days to hatch and good luck!

 

[RattleCan]

I ordered 50 eggs off a seller on Ebay. They came from Tennessee and ended up in Maryland, all in the hot month of June. I was sent 5 extras, so of the 55 eggs I received: 3 were cracked on arrival and 1 broke by my own fault. Of the 51 eggs I incubated, 32 hatched. Of the 32 hatched, 7 survived to adulthood (however, I believe this number is mainly my fault given I'm still new to raising baby birds. Forgot to refill water dish before work one day and lost 10 in one go, power got knocked out for about 24 hours one day and I lost the 5 smallest ones since I guess they weren't warm enough. So on). All that hatched seemed very healthy and the hens that lived have already started laying eggs on me. I hatched a bunch of colors, several tuxedos (what I wanted the most, of course none of them lived to adulthood though), a couple silver/pearls, a couple really cute caramel colored ones, several whites, a solid black, a solid black with a white collar, black faced, and of course red breasted and wild types. My survivors are a lovely mix of colors and all seem in good health, so I can recommend the seller on Ebay if you're interested. She shipped them in little button quail egg-sized cartoons with plenty of packing for safety.

Again, I believe the only reason so few survived to be full grown was my fault entirely. Hopefully my next hatch goes better now that I have some experience with it.

 

[Bryam]

Well, yes I turned my incubator on right away. I let the eggs rest on the counter and then I figured once they got to room temperature, popped them in the warmed incubator, but I left the turner off for about 30 hours. I figure the air cell still got a chance to reattach while the embryo started to develop. Why not hit two birds with one stone! Lol!