Best time to candle quail eggs?

[SweetieChicken234]

So we are on day 6 with the quail eggs. Jumbo coturnix. Do we candle quail eggs once or twice? I normally do my chickens eggs twice. The first time to remove infertile eggs and the second to remove quitters before lockdown. Should I use the same method with quail eggs or just wait til lockdown to remove infertile and quitters? This is my first time with quail eggs and I wasn't clear on the best method.

 

[TeresaW]

I candle them once between days 7-10 and once before lockdown.

 

[SweetieChicken234]

I candle them once between days 7-10 and once before lockdown.

Ok thanks. So basically same method as chicken eggs.

 

[Ridgerunner]

As long as you are comfortable you can tell whether an egg is fertile or not the first time you candle it should work well. With my chicken eggs I can't always tell if they are fertile or not (dark green shells) so I never toss an egg at the first candling. When I go into lockdown I toss any that will not hatch, mainly to free up more room in the incubator and make it easier to keep track of the others during hatch.
I don't do quail but I understand Coturnix eggs have dark blotches on them. I don't know if that makes them harder to candle or not.

Lots of different ways to do these things. Yours sounds good.

 

[SweetieChicken234]

As long as you are comfortable you can tell whether an egg is fertile or not the first time you candle it should work well. With my chicken eggs I can't always tell if they are fertile or not (dark green shells) so I never toss an egg at the first candling. When I go into lockdown I toss any that will not hatch, mainly to free up more room in the incubator and make it easier to keep track of the others during hatch.
I don't do quail but I understand Coturnix eggs have dark blotches on them. I don't know if that makes them harder to candle or not.

Lots of different ways to do these things. Yours sounds good.

Oh yeah the green shells are tough to tell. Mine are Delaware and Wyandotte eggs so mine are super easy to tell if they are fertile after a first candling. I had easter egger eggs and did not like candling those.

 

[007Sean]

So we are on day 6 with the quail eggs. Jumbo coturnix. Do we candle quail eggs once or twice? I normally do my chickens eggs twice. The first time to remove infertile eggs and the second to remove quitters before lockdown. Should I use the same method with quail eggs or just wait til lockdown to remove infertile and quitters? This is my first time with quail eggs and I wasn't clear on the best method.

Coturnix eggs can usually be candled after 5days. Depending upon your experience with hatching eggs, you can candle more or less and toss out the undeveloped or 'quiters' before the final 3 or 4 days of incubation....I don't like or use the term 'lockdown' because that is an outdated term in hatching eggs.
Incubation is a process and as such the last 3 or 4 days is just one phase of the incubation process where the humidity levels are increased and the infertile or 'quiters' are tossed out so as not to explode during the hatching phase of incubation and to provide more room in the incubator for the hatching chick's.

 

[Susan Skylark]

I candle mine daily day 3-10, but I love watching them develop! Day 5 is usually the best day for veins/embryos (and again day 10). Day 3-4 you can notice infertile vs fertile with practice. After day 5 a growing shadow is a great sign. By day 12 the egg should be almost full. Quitters often clump up and float by that time and can sometimes be culled after a little practice. Eggs can vary significantly in ease of candling, I have two birds that lay blue (celedon) eggs, one is very easy to candle while the other is nearly impossible as it has a blue olive colored inside lining. The same goes for spotted eggs, some are a breeze and some a nightmare. If in doubt recheck later. Green and glowing on day 12 is infertile, shadowy and dark is great!