Button quail hatch along

[Ladybird CA]

I got my dozen button quail eggs today.

Candled each egg and saw no cracks but one has a moving bubble air cell. It’s unlikely to hatch so I’m looking for 11 names instead of 12. There’s no theme for this hatch.

Eggs will be put in the incubators tomorrow around noon which was the time that I received them today.
I’ll candle the darker two in this last bottom row to see which one had the moving air sac before numbering the rest. It will go in the new incubator for the first week then tossed if nothing develops.

The lighter coloured ones will go in my 20ish year old hovabator. I replaced the thermostat wafer about 4 years ago and have had good hatches from it. The other one is being used for the first time and has an automatic turner. I’ll probably candle the eggs from the hovabator more often since I have to hand turn them 3 times a day anyway.

Hovabator:

Each incubator will have 6 eggs placed in it. Each incubator has two thermometers and hygrometers. As you can see the temp on the smart incubator is reading 37.2 C as well as 38.1 c. The same goes for the hovabator…the digital hygrometer in there is showing about 38 c but the analog about 37. Humidity has been dry in the hovabator compared to the other incubator. It will be drier still due to the hand turning. I will be home often so will be able to monitor humidity to try to keep it 40-50% the first 13 days then 60-70% the last 3 days. I don’t want to adjust the temps because the last time I did it it was not good and even caused a temp spike of 120 f. I can’t remember the outcome of that hatch as it was years ago.

They are due to hatch November 4th.

 

[GodLovesU]

Awesome!Are you going to number the eggs?

 

[Ladybird CA]

Yes I’ll number them tomorrow I forgot to bring a writing utensil when I candled them. Not sure if I’ll use a marker or pencil. I’ve heard that a pencil might cause more damage but I get afraid of the chemicals that could be in the marker.

 

[Ladybird CA]

I think last time I used a pencil lightly marked so if I can’t find a marker tomorrow I’ll use the pencil and be really careful not to break the eggs.

 

[Ladybird CA]

I decided to number them now after finding a sharpie. Probably was a good idea as my son will be home around noon tomorrow when I recandle them again before putting them in the incubators. He would want to write the numbers himself and that might not go well. I also just recandled the bottom 3 eggs and don’t see the moving air cell in any of them. Maybe it settled after being in one spot for a few hours. Or I might find it during candling tomorrow.

 

[GodLovesU]

Great!Can I claim number 7?And name it Bumble, after my deceased, tuxedo button quail chick?

 

[Ladybird CA]

Sure!

 

[Ladybird CA]

I put in the eggs at 1:25 pm today. Decided to do another candle to decide which ones I see better in to place in the hovabator that I'll hand turn. The darkest ones went to the smart incubator with the automatic turner. I am able to see into them but not much. Ironically, the first egg that I candled, egg #4, turned out to be the one with the moving air cell. Don't need a name for that one lol. It is currently in the smart incubator. I don't plan to open that incubator until day 4. I think that was the earliest that Nabiki was able to see veins in her eggs and I don't have as good a candler. Just using the iphone with the egg foam on top of it.

 

[Ladybird CA]

Down to 10 eggs. Eggs #2 and #4 were very clearly clear and the eggtopsies I did this morning while it is still dark out confirmed this. Egg #4’s moving air sac had turned into moving bubbles.

5 eggs are left in each incubator. For the hovabator, egg #7/Bumble is the only egg that is too dark to see into. Egg #3 I only saw part of one vein, not sure if it is a blood ring or veins.

In the smart incubator the only eggs that are not too dark to candle are #6 and #12 which show veins.

Hoping to get at least 2 pairs out of this hatch and am happy about the candling results so far.

 

[Ladybird CA]

Egg #9 that was in the hovabator went from looking like it had a blood ring to looking clear which an eggtopsy confirmed.

It is day 17 and number 11 has hatched. So far the chick looks like a possible red breasted. I will post photos once the hatch is over on day 20.

I will add food and water when I will need to open the incubator to add more water. So far the incubator would drop to 10-15% humidity in the morning after being around 68-70% during the day. Last night humidity was at 69% then this morning around 8 am it was only 10%. I have 2 humidifiers and the basement dehumidifier had been on for most of the hatch but I was able to convince DH to turn it off until the hatch is over. I read on reddit that someone had better hatches doing a dry hatch even though their humidity was 10-15% the first 2 weeks then increasing it to 65-70% the last 3 days. So I will do that next time.

There is another egg that is pipped that was near it in the smart incubator but I can't see what number it is. I know it is not #6 or #12.

#12 I had dropped while candling and had a small crack so I put scotch tape on it. I don't have surgical tape and the candle wicks I have are too short to be lighted. Almost burnt my hand trying to do that a few times.

So there are 4 eggs left in the smart incubator and 4 eggs in the hovabator to hatch.

Hoping this little button gets at least a friend.