club feet

[njduck]

ok so I am on my 3rd successful hatch of quail. I am having about 90% hatch rate. I am using the sportsmen 1502 digital. I have hatched out a little over 500 ducks and turkeys this spring and summer. I am now trying quail. this last hatch though I have about a 40% club foot problem. Anyone have an idea why?

 

[TwoCrows]

Foot problems are generally caused from too high incubator temp and or hot spots in the incubator. If you do not have fans in your incubator, make sure to install them to keep the heat distributed evenly. Keep the temp for forced air incubators between 99.5 and 100 degrees.

Quail are a bit more delicate to hatch than other species of poultry.

 

[njduck]

forced air, preset to 100, the humidity stays around 30 to 35, then I raise it for hatch

 

[TwoCrows]

I never trust just the incubator temp gauge. Sometimes they do come out of calibration. I use 2 thermometers at all times. Even a half degree over 100 can cause foot issues.

 

[njduck]

got it