Crockpot Incubator Saga III: Shipped Quails Eggs...?!

[Canina]

wow, those are quite the pets! I’ve always wanted a ferret

Got my first three pips in the new batch of crockpot quail eggs today. out of 18 eggs 6 were infertile and 2 were scrambled upon arrival. One quit some time around day 10. This batch is an extreme impulse buy, I haven’t really had time to keep track of when I set them... and didn't turn them due to saddled egg shells. Humidity was also quite high during incubation, and I missed the lockdown timing altogether. I’ll report back if any survivors make it out of the shell XD

Best of luck!

I am following some advice to not turn the eggs for the first 3 or 4 days then start turning as normal until lockdown- what do you think about that? Most of the guides say to incubate at oddly high humidity compared to people here. I’m going to try 30-50 until lockdown then up to 75.

More buttons hopefully. Shipped eBay eggs, 5 arrived cracked, all have scrambled air cells. I’m terrified because I will have to be away from them for 48 hours and I’ve got to trust my partner to maintain the balance of the vivbator when he’s usually on the computer

 

[Canina]

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Wow, how are the aircells now? Did you candle them? I eliminated any of the ones with floating bubbles from the get go because those honestly look like the membrane has ruptured or something.... idk

Humidity wise, I’ve only hatched corturnix so I don’t know whether buttons would be the same. I’ve been reading that corturnix are generally incubated dry at 30-40% humidity until lockdown, and even then, the humidity shouldn’t be all that high. I have no idea why though, lol.

Yes, i candle all of them before also selecting for size and shape, ultimately picking half that have the best chances and feeding half to the animals. All except one had air cell still attached, just a really messy shape so I had them upside down for over 24 hours and they’re improved. I use some as dummy eggs when test running the vivbator as you often need to adjust once something’s actually in there and I like to take the temperature of the individual eggs in their positions with a heat gun.

An example of when i candle everything before it goes in!

 

[yakitori]

Yes, i candle all of them before also selecting for size and shape, ultimately picking half that have the best chances and feeding half to the animals. All except one had air cell still attached, just a really messy shape so I had them upside down for over 24 hours and they’re improved. I use some as dummy eggs when test running the vivbator as you often need to adjust once something’s actually in there and I like to take the temperature of the individual eggs in their positions with a heat gun.

An example of when i candle everything before it goes in!

View attachment 2924837View attachment 2924838

Those cracks are upsetting. I’m actually quite surprised how well mine shipped in this cold weather and how intact they were for being in shipment for 4 days...

Definitely have them standing upright for longer than you think you need to. I’ve read some people let them hatch standing up also. you can always turn them while they are upright... I didn’t lay this batch down on their sides until 3 days ago (2 weeks into incubation?) ... 8/10 pips so far!

Last time I hatched quails, I didn’t have them upright long enough and the aircells became wonky again :/

 

[Little Baby Bean]

I’ve gotten quite a few eggs from the older ones

Also Mr kinkneck might just happen to be a Miss kinkneck...

Wow! How often do they lay?

Really? That's cute!

 

[Little Baby Bean]

How are your quails doing, @yakitori?

 

[Stanpott]

This is so cool! For the last couple of years I've been hatching with a waterbed incubator. It is so much fun compared to the conventional circulated air, and since I just hatch for fun I got rid of my circulated air incubators this year so I'm committed to waterbed hatching! It is very different from the conventional...much to learn and very limited information, and very few people with experience to draw on. But you can buy waterbed incubators...they are very simple and very cheap, they come in many different sizes. They consist of a simple heat pad with a thermostat set into a styro foam cooler, and a bit of quilt batting to cover the eggs with. The one I've been using for the past three years the thermostat is now giving me grief. I just ordered a "self made" incubator kit from china...they sell the pads and thermostats in different sizes all the way up to 100 eggs(you'd need some really large bags and a huge cooler to set that up in...and if you want to hatch that many eggs you will do better buying something that can accommodate automatic turning) The kit costs about the same as the incubators, but the shipping is free, and I have a case for my waterbed that I really like now so I want to re use it. (The original cooler that came with the waterbed incubator needed a bag size I could never find)