Button Quail Lockdown (no pipping)?

[JaeG]

Candling will tell you if there's any hope but you should probably wait another day or so before having a look. You can wet your hands before picking up the eggs just in case.

If you can see into the egg (I know some are too dark) you'll be able to tell if there's possibly a chick still alive in there. If the chick dies it sinks towards the narrow end of the egg and there will be a watery looking layer between it and the air cell. If it still looks full and dark there's hope, especially if the air cell has developed a slant. Sometimes you can see the chick pressing against the inner membrane under the air cell trying to break through.

Sometimes they pip internally and for whatever reason die before they can externally pip. You'll see the chicks beak as a shadow in the air cell and if the chick is alive it sort of dips back down, trying to hide from the strange light, or looks around, whereas if it has died it won't move (the movement of your hands can make it look like it does move a little but if there's no major movement after a little while you can be pretty sure it has quit).

If the egg looks pretty clear then it either didn't start developing or quit in the early stages.

If your baby is going to be a one and only she will need lots of attention and become very tame.

 

[cuckleberry]

We'll wait til tomorrow to candle. I can see cracking on one egg but I'm hoping it'll push through. We've yet to see anything else.
We are constantly taking the chick out of the brooder to wrap her in a blanket, which she loves to bits.

Fingers crossed there's at least one more chick soon! Since it's day 17 (going into 18 at 4 p.m), what day should would be the day to stop incubating?

 

[cuckleberry]

Also, when we removed our chick, we didn't take her shell out. That won't do anything to the eggs I assume? (Really dumb question)

And since she knocked all the eggs into the middle when she hatched, will they be okay there? I won't open the incubator but I assume it doesn't do anything?

Last question (as of now), is it normal to only have one button quail hatch? I'm praying they pop like popcorn sometime soon, but I don't know if there's an average to how many button quail eggs hatch.

 

[Bug n Flock]

What a cutie!

Shipped eggs can be rough some times. The one time I incubated shipped, I let them sit 24 hours fat side up, then for the first week or so of incubation I left them fat side up in the open carton, and turned the eggs by shifting the different corners of the egg carton up or down by placing objects under it. Even with all this delicate handling, only 4 of the 18 or so eggs hatched. Your cutie might be a singleton. Crossing fingers though that at least 1 more hatches for you!

 

[cuckleberry]

Naw! I was incredibly skeptical about ordering the eggs because of how fertile they'd actually be.

Other people that purchased from the same seller said they had good hatch rates. (I assume 50% -75% is good, but I could be wrong) I think I'm just being unnecessarily impatient. Her hatching by herself does have me worried about the other eggs.. but I want to believe they'll catch up.

 

[JaeG]

I'd wait until day 20 just to be absolutely sure. Her egg shell won't be a problem left in there and I'd just leave the others as they are.

With shipped eggs it can be very hit and miss. One bad jolt, especially with such tiny eggs, can mean they are damaged too badly to make it.

If you can't see any pipping I'd be very tempted to candle (but that's me), as there's no point hoping and keeping the incubator running if there isn't any hope. But only do it if you want to (I'm very hands on when incubating). Wait until its really dark because that will give you the best chance of seeing enough to know one way or the other. At this point the other eggs should at least be pipped internally if they were going to hatch.

 

[cuckleberry]

Oh I'm very tempted to candle! I just don't want to go opening the incubator and chance hurting any chicks that are still alive.

 

[JaeG]

You'd only potentially hurt them if they had externally pipped. Until then they can't lose enough moisture to shrink wrap them (unless the incubator humidity has been too low throughout incubation and they have lost too much moisture over time). I wet my hands before handling eggs that could potentially be externally pipped, just in case. Maybe put a wet cloth in the incubator beside your group of eggs to ensure the humidity doesn't drop too much around them and get them out one at a time for a peek. It is getting to the point where the gap between when the first one hatched and any others is too big, so I'd be really tempted to have a peek.

 

[cuckleberry]

Gosh I'm both excited and scared to see.. Should we still wait or do it now to see? (Asking your opinion as you've done this before!) If any move like you said, they still have potential to hatch on their own? I won't need to assist them?

 

[JaeG]

I'd bite the bullet and do it because there's been such a gap. If they've pipped internally you should see movement. Sometimes they freeze for a moment but they should move their beak a bit, wondering where that bright light suddenly appeared from. If it looks lumpy just under the air cell that means the chick has died. If the chick has sunk towards the narrow end and there's a watery gap under the air cell then that means the chick has died.

It is a good idea to candle at regular intervals during incubation as then you can tell which eggs have started, which eggs quit, and how many you can expect at hatch time, plus you can track the growth of the air cell to make sure it's not growing too fast or too slow. But you do need a dark room, a strong light, and the Button eggs are so tiny so that makes it a bit more challenging.

I've still got my fingers crossed!