Coturnix Quail Basics- Information and Pictures Galore

[emcrowder]

Well it is now the next morning and still no one has hatched they are just moving. I'm not sure what to do they still haven't pipped or anything can they not get out?!

 

[Lobzi]

its such a hard call. If the temp was at all low then that explains the late hatch. Ive never been successful in assisting a quail hatch, only chickens. Id say leave them be. If they dont get out on their own they probably would not survive with your help anyway.

 

[emcrowder]

The only thing I can think of that may be causing difficulty hatching would be that I discovered on day 7 that I had them wrong side up in the incubator (pointy end up). As soon as I realized it I put them the right way do you think that would cause them to not be able to hatch? This is bothering me so much because they are all so very much alive in there but no one has made a move to hatch and it's day 19

 

[Lobzi]

Oh yes, I see your concern. Ive never dealt with this issue. I hope someone on here can advise you. If you dont hear anything from someone do an Internet search or better yet contact Robbie at James Marie Farms. I bet he could give you information. You just might have to assist hatching in this case and it might be fine if you. Do a search first for anyone else who has experienced this same thing. I just dont know how development orientation might effect the ability of the baby to get out of the egg. Seven days is almost have the incubation cycle for quail so a lot may have gone on to establish orientation of the chick. Glad you mentioned that.

 

[Lobzi]

I found this:
"Sadly three of the upside downs didn't make it. One made a hole in the shell down the bottom but didn't break through the membranes. When I checked there was a lot of blood and I think it must have broken a blood vessel in the membrane that wasn't yet ready to be broken through. Another upside down got out with a little help last night. She was getting stuck with membrane drying on her. The last one to hatch is another upside down that we've just helped out this evening. She started pipping at the bottom on Sunday and yesterday she didn't make much progress. She was very stuck with membrane around the hole dry and stuck to her so she couldn't move but other membrane still had blood supply so we increased the humidity a bit, damped the membrane where it was dry and stuck to her and then just had to wait and hope. Tonight when we got home she was still very stuck but at least the blood supply in the membrane had finally stopped so we could get her out. She was pretty exhausted. Poor thing is resting now and hopefully I will be able to put her in with the others tomorrow."

http://forum.backyardpoultry.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=8017139

 

[Lobzi]

Now this info is for chickens but reading this Id advise assisting. You dont what the things to exhaust themselves. Can you try on and see if it is oriented beak down?


If there is a lighter colored one try regular candling and see if you can see any fluttering up near the aircell.

 

[emcrowder]

I'm just not sure how I would go about assisting them since they still haven't pipped. I will try candling one and see if it is upside down though. I'm going to see if I can figure out how to reach Robbie.

 

[Lobzi]

Go to James Marie Farms website and contact Robbie through there. He has a lot of knowledge regarding quail. Id say candle to see if there is an aircell at the large end. Break the egg open from the large end first and see if there is a little beak anywhere up there. If not the chick is probably upside down in the egg and so Id start peeling away the shell heading down to the bottom. If this one is upside down then that is probably what is going on with all the other eggs.

 

[emcrowder]

I emailed him no reply yet. I candled several and the entire egg was in shadow on all of them. I also put them up to my ear and could hear and feel movement and one even chirped! It's day 19 I don't understand why they will not hatch or even pip they all seem in good shape. This is so frustrating!

 

[jennifleur]

Hi
My last hatch took twenty days. I have heard that jumbos can take a day or two longer than normal sized birds. In my case, I think it was my new incubator. I've only used it for one hatch. Has factory setting for heat but could be low. I tend to be a helper when it comes to hatches. After an internal pip you might try drilling tiny hole in fat side air cell. that would keep them from running out of air before they externally pip. After a day or so I enlarge it enough to see if they are sticky (too wet) or are shrink wrapped(too dry). I also try to see if they are malpositioned. If they are dry I wet tip of q-tip with vetericyn or warm water and moisten membrane. If the veins look pale and shriveled empty of blood I will go ahead and slowly chip them out.

Have your eggs internally pipped? You can tell if they have by holding them up to your ear, do you hear clicking or peeps? If you hear clicking they have broken through the internal membrane and the clicking is actually them breathing air. They should have enough air in a normal sized air cell for a good twenty four hours.