Early Hatches--Help Me Understand

[gatrapper]

Hey Y'all,

I have been hatching quail, ducks, and chickens for over a year now. I have hatched many batches with great success, but have never experienced early hatches until of late.

Two weeks ago, I had a batch of quail hatch out at 16 days. I heard the norm was 18, but folks have hatched them out in 14.

I have ducklings that are due to hatch on Saturday (day 28). This morning (Day 25), I go to add some more water to the incubator and notice little duck bills pushing through the shells.

How do early hatches work? Why do some batches develop on time and now these seem to have developed at a much quicker rate?

 

[Aapomp831]

This is going to be a very non scientific theoretical observation....
I believe it’s just nature, and the number of days to hatch that we assign to different eggs is just a generalized average. Like a woman is supposedly pregnant for 9 months (well, technically 10). Some women have super early births with little to no complications, some have to be induced waaaaay past their due dates bc the little jerk (I say that lovingly) doesn’t want to come out. So - normal I would think.
Also, could be that you’re getting better at what you do. With each hatch, I learn from the last one and tweak my processes. Maybe you’re just becoming a rock star Hatcher lol

 

[LaFleche]

Hey Y'all,

I have been hatching quail, ducks, and chickens for over a year now. I have hatched many batches with great success, but have never experienced early hatches until of late.

Two weeks ago, I had a batch of quail hatch out at 16 days. I heard the norm was 18, but folks have hatched them out in 14.

I have ducklings that are due to hatch on Saturday (day 28). This morning (Day 25), I go to add some more water to the incubator and notice little duck bills pushing through the shells.

How do early hatches work? Why do some batches develop on time and now these seem to have developed at a much quicker rate?

• Very fresh eggs i.e. collected the same day the incubation is started, will hatch at least one day earlier than the rest.
  
  
• Your incubator's temperature might be inaccurate > too high.
  
  
• The room you incubator is situated might heat up depending on the time of year.
  

 

[Ridgerunner]

How do early hatches work? Why do some batches develop on time and now these seem to have developed at a much quicker rate?

I'll use the 21 days for chickens to make it easier to talk about it, but tis applies to all the birds. The 21 day thing is a general target. For many different reasons it's not that unusual for the eggs to hatch a couple of days early or late whether in an incubator or under a broody hen. The first thing most people think about is incubating temperature, if the average incubating temperature is a bit warm they can be early. If it's a bit cool they can be late. Temperature is important, but it's not the only reason.

I've read that humidity can have an effect. If they are losing moisture fairly fast they may hatch early, if they are not losing moisture that fast they may be a tad late. Nature's way of adjusting. I'm not sure how much faith I have in that.

This one I strongly believe in, heredity. I think it is why mine often hatch a full two days early whether in an incubator or under a broody hen. If it were just my incubator I'd think the temperature needs to be adjusted down a bit but I've calibrated it. And it happens under a brood hen. Occasionally some will hatch closer to the 21 days but mine are never late. They are usually early.

How and how long they are stored before incubation begins can have an effect. Some of that may be because of how much moisture they lose as they are being stored and if it's warm they may develop a little. They don't need incubation temperatures to start developing, they can develop a little without dying if it is just "warm".

I don't know what is going on with yours. You might want to calibrate your incubator temperature. The adjustment may have shifted a bit.