Chick not hatched

[abub93]

Hi everyone,

Im new to all this incubation. I started my first batch 22 days ago and there are still no eggs that have hatched. should i wait or not? one egg did chirp 2 days ago and there was one pip but after that it stopped chirping. today i decided to open it up, when i did t werent moving, one eye was shut the other open. im assuming its dead. Any help on what to do with rest? keep them in for one more day or get rid?

 

[TwoCrows]

What type of quail are you hatching? Some have longer incubation periods.

 

[abub93]

coturnix quail

 

[TwoCrows]

I would say that if today is day 22, it is a loss. Something went wrong during incubation, or the with the eggs.

Where did you get the eggs? And were they shipped eggs? What incubator are you using? Is it forced air or still air? What were your temps and humidity levels during incubation and at lock down? Did you use one thermometer or two? Anything else that may pertain to the incubation you can also include would be helpful.

 

[abub93]

it is one of them styro foam incubators with a thermostat. Forced air (had a fan). I did a lot of research all over the internet and humidity levels I kept at about 50% sometimes it went down to 40. sometimes upto 60%. I had a dial thermometer which read 37.5 C all the way. However during lockdown I bought a digital thermometer and that read 35.8 C. The thermometers are both on egg top level. Lock down I raised humidity to 80/70 if it went above i just opened the lid. The eggs were from my own quails.

 

[abub93]

I turned eggs three times a day until lockdown

 

[abub93]

i tried a float test on two eggs they wriggle in the water

 

[TwoCrows]

If the digital thermometer was correct at 35.8 C, then that temp was way too low for incubation. And this could be the reason for the losses. You need to get 2 thermometers that are calibrated exactly the same and use those only. Everything else you did seems to be in good order.

One more question. Did you collect these eggs and put them directly into the incubator or did you store them first?

It is best to let freshly collected eggs rest for a couple of days before incubation and not more than 10 days. If you were storing them before incubation, they should have been stored at around 50 to 60 degrees, large end up and turned at least 3 times a day. Then brought up to room temp before setting in the incubator. Make sure to have the incubator all reved up, running at proper temp and humidity level.

 

[TwoCrows]

Oh....and one more thing...does this incubator have vents to let in outside air? Growing babies need a ton of oxygen during incubation and especially during lock down and pip stage. With out outside air coming in, they would have been starved of oxygen.

 

[abub93]

The incubator has two holes one at each side. How would I calibrate two thermometers? Eggs I collected and left in a room which was 15-20 C. I collected for seven days.