DAY 0... / Hatching has begun!!

[ElizabethChau]

I just put in 30 Chinese Painted (button) Quail eggs! It's a bator made with an empty box for diapers Temp is at 100 and holding steady. humidity is 45% and will be raise on the last 3 days to 65% Follow me on this experimental journey of incubation to hatching!
I experimented and learn a hard lesson with my very first attemp with 8 eggs, None Survived. In fact they stopped any development around the 8th day. .. It was so sad... but very educational lesson. So those of you who are just starting out, and learning things like me, join me in my second attempt . For those of you who are making your first attempt, don't ignor the need for maintaining humidity or vent holes in the proper places. Without either, your eggies may likely not survive I hope no one is offended or discouraging to my learning curve with this... We all start some way or another, not all are as good or successful, just understand that
I will post pics as soon as anything starts to show, pipping etc..

 

[Lildia]

Good luck!
Your posts are not discouraging at all, I am new to everything about birds and quail, and will most likely be in your position soon enough! More so, it is slightly encouraging to not be disheartened when the eggs don't hatch... I never knew it could be a common problem

 

[SSTupperware]

Good luck, I am hoping to do the same in a couple months...

 

[ElizabethChau]

Thanks Best of luck to you both as well! Sadly there are normally a few out of a clutch that just don't hatch, for various reasons, yet the rest hatch just fine. It was my own ignorance and lack of experience that caused my first attempt to be so bad. Vent holes were placed around the top half of the box, and on top of the lid.... Well the eggs are at the bottom now aren't they! Not enough air was getting to them i think....Silly mistakes like that were my issue. My humidity was also rarely able to be kept above 28-38, which I'd read it wasn't necessarily a real problem as button quail are desert type birds... That information couldn't have been any farther off! Lack of humidity also caused my bad results. So this time around I have proper temperature, proper humidity and a proper time table for turning. (which will help minimise humidity loss from too much opening of the bator).
Some readers can get bees in their bonnets when reading posts of a persons failure and judge them, I've seen a few over zealous to judge post on others threads, so I just wanted to be sure no toes were stepped on so to speak
My quail laid another egg after I'd already place the 30 eggs in, so I marked the egg and put it in with the others.... This way I know which egg might take awhile longer than the rest. I'm so looking forward to Hatch Day!

 

[UndergroundQuailRoad]

Elizabeth, It has been great reading your posts and I admire your persistence! I think the added factor of a homemade incubator makes it a well rounded learning experience. Good luck!

 

[GrandmaBird]

Good luck and do keep us posted! This is a learning experience and should be shared even those that have done this many times will have a few "bad" hatches but it is nice to be able to ask questions and for the different ideas people have. Not everyone can afford a big incubator nor really wants one but just to hatch a few for the thrill and for a few extra birds. I have gone through this once and that was enough for me for a while, maybe next spring we will hatch again...

 

[ElizabethChau]

Thanks guys . Everything seems to be going really well so far! Temp stays at 99-100. Humidity is still staying at 45%. In the very wee hours of the morning, it's cooler, and the temp in there went down to 97 for a small period of time. I'm very hopeful this doesn't cause an issue for the eggs. I laid a fleece baby blanket over the box for 3 minutes and the temp popped up to 102, then back to its normal 100 within 1 minute. So I manage to bring the temp back up to place pretty quickly! And now I know that at 4am I need to drape the fleece around the box just a bit to help it stay warm.

 

[SSTupperware]

I just got an incubator off CL so I am seeing how well it holds temp, I hope in a lil while I'll have some fertile eggs to hatch. Keep us posted...

 

[ElizabethChau]

I hope your incubator works well for you! Mine seems ok, aside from the early morning temp drop from 99 to 97. I get it back up to 99-102 within minutes, (99-102 is the safe zone right!!??) and it always levels out to 99 very quickly... I really hope this temperature bounce in the mornings isn't detrimental to the eggs. I mean, mommy quail must get off her eggs now and then to eat and relieve herself so the eggs would drop in temp a little in nature too. I'm pegging my hopes on that!

 

[GrannysRoost]

If you don't have a fan, expect them to take longer...99...to 100 with a fan, with out a fan 101. You appear to be in the desert also with humidity, to hatch you need it higher..is your box going to collapse or harbor mold before they they hatch...I am not being negative, but I would not hatch in a cardboard box even in the desert, get a cheap styrofoam cooler and do the same where it is insulated...Good Luck!