Button/Gambel

[selfsuffally]

Out of fifteen Button quail eggs, only two hatched, one with help. I float tested the rest and they were all high floaters and I never saw movement or piping with the floaters. The eggs were shipped but were packed well and no damage to the shipping box. However, upon receipt I discovered one was leaking and smelled rotten. During incubation, I had to toss more due to leaking. The seller has offered to send more to replace the leakers. I did have issues with the humidity in the beginning dropping too low. Could the humidity have been the problem?

The two hatched were born a full day apart, of which my kiddos found hilarious and amazing; and helping to hatch was quite disgusting in their opinion. The one that was helped is doing fantastic, at first it had curly toes, but they are straightening out. I put a small stuffed animal in the brooder with the oldest and both have taken to it. They cuddle with it each chance they get.

I'm incubating Gambel now and the humidity is staying level, but they were shipped as well. Again, packed well and no damage to the box. The highest the humidity has been is 58% and the lowest is 53%, it is generally somewhere in between the high and low. Does that need to be altered? As I've seen some sites say the humidity needs to be considerably higher and some lower, I want to ensure the best possible chance for these eggs.

Thanks for all the help.

 

[dpenning]

I tried to maintain as close to 50% humidity but I did drop down a few times. I had a 50 % hatch rate on shipped eggs that I set the same day they came in but I did not put the turner on for the first. 24 hours. It sounds like old eggs to me with the leaking and smell. I cracked some of my non starters and even some late quitters and none really stunk. My husband will attest to me having a very sensitive sniffer! Lol