On 12/7, I took the eggs away from Robin's hen and put them in the 'bator. She'd sat for a couple days and then given up. I figured the chicks were due 12/23. The eggs were laid 12/1 - 12/5.
Last night, I was eaten with the obsession to put those eggs in the hatcher, 8 days early. I fretted about it, thinking I was jumping the gun, but I couldn't let go of the nagging "MUST DO THIS!!" feeling.
I turned them this morning by hand, before I went to work. I got home from work at 7:40, after an hour and a half car ride home and a stop at the grocery store. I turned the eggs again.
Not too long after, I heard this high wheezing whistle noise, and started inspecting my birds, thinking it was one of them in some sort of distress. Then the noise stopped. I made dinner, called That Guy, worried about my quail and staring at them trying to figure out which of them was making that noise. As I walked past the 'bator on the way to the fridge, something zoomed across the corner of my vision. I looked down and saw that one of them had hatched! In less than an hour from when I turned them - and there were no pips, motion, or noises at 7:45 - one of them had pipped, zipped, and was on its way to fluffy buttness!
Pictures attached of my very first successful, if noisy, button quail baby!
Sorry for crappy quality - I only have the camera phone right now. My real camera died. Also, the pics are taken through the Hovabator plastic
EEE! Baby!
-Spooky
(ps - why is cr*p a bad word? It keeps changing it to 'crud'?)
(pps - how do y'all stand it?! Baby sounds so forlorn! I stuck some paper towel strips through the vent hole for it to cuddle under because it kept trying to cuddle the thermosensor.)
Last night, I was eaten with the obsession to put those eggs in the hatcher, 8 days early. I fretted about it, thinking I was jumping the gun, but I couldn't let go of the nagging "MUST DO THIS!!" feeling.
I turned them this morning by hand, before I went to work. I got home from work at 7:40, after an hour and a half car ride home and a stop at the grocery store. I turned the eggs again.
Not too long after, I heard this high wheezing whistle noise, and started inspecting my birds, thinking it was one of them in some sort of distress. Then the noise stopped. I made dinner, called That Guy, worried about my quail and staring at them trying to figure out which of them was making that noise. As I walked past the 'bator on the way to the fridge, something zoomed across the corner of my vision. I looked down and saw that one of them had hatched! In less than an hour from when I turned them - and there were no pips, motion, or noises at 7:45 - one of them had pipped, zipped, and was on its way to fluffy buttness!
Pictures attached of my very first successful, if noisy, button quail baby!
Sorry for crappy quality - I only have the camera phone right now. My real camera died. Also, the pics are taken through the Hovabator plastic
EEE! Baby!
-Spooky
(ps - why is cr*p a bad word? It keeps changing it to 'crud'?)
(pps - how do y'all stand it?! Baby sounds so forlorn! I stuck some paper towel strips through the vent hole for it to cuddle under because it kept trying to cuddle the thermosensor.)
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