First clutch, Quail eggs, Inc day 5?

[miniqoos]

Hi guys and gals, I'm new here so hello everybody, I would appreciate some views of my eggs, this is my first attempt at hatching fone fertilised eggs posted from a reputable breeder. I'm using a stylofoam box with a 40w bulb with temp ranging from 35-39?, these are my eggs, a picture of each one at 5 days in the incubator? The poster did say he won't post any eggs over 3 days old so I'm wondering if the darker eggs could possibly be older eggs as there is alot of difference in these eggs? Thanks in advance for any reply much appreciated, and sorry for my poor quality pics x

 

[FridayYet]

First off, welcome to BYC!

I know nothing about incubating quail, but it seems like you have a huge temperature range in your incubator. if you don't have a fan, the temp should be 101-102 taken at the top of the eggs. (38-39C). If your temps are running too low, on average, eggs won't develop properly.

Good luck with your hatch, and I hope someone with more knowledge will stop by soon!

 

[miniqoos]

Thanks for your reply and thankyou! I've been reading plenty of threads on here and thought why not join such a lovely forum! I've heard in a still air incubator it should be at 37.7 but I've also heard of quail hatching at lower and higher temps nothing higher then 45, as this is my first ever attempt I'm not to worried as I like to learn from things and see how things go lol this is also in my homemade incubator aswell so it's all a very new experience for me also the temp holds steady at 38.0 come night time so fingers crossed that will be Ok

 

[WVduckchick]

Are these coturnix quail? I assume so from the pics, they look like mine. Some of mine appeared darker, some even green or blue tinted inside when candling. I hatched several different colors, but didn't note if there was any correlation.

I ran at 99.5-100 (37.5-38.2) No way would I expect 45 to be safe!!

What's your humidity running?

 

[miniqoos]

Hi thanks for replying and no I meant 45c was death temp lol sorry. I done have a humidity thermometer or gager so I don't actually know but read online a small plastic cup half filled with water is enough until lockdown then to add 2 wet sponges/rags is this Ok? And im not sure what breed they are I bought them mixed lol I thought the bright green ones where duds, as it's only day 5 I will be leaving them all in the incubator until atleast day 21/22 it's the patience thing that's the killer for me haha even if I do get a hatch

 

[WVduckchick]

That amount of water should work for the first 15 days, might need a little more surface area of water for the last few. If you could pick up a hygrometer before then, it could be helpful.

Here is a pic I took last night, Day 8. Nice and healthy, so here's what you should see in a few days. 3 days is really too early to see much through these shells, especially with the speckles hiding so much. It will be obvious if they are clear in a few days though, because they should be darker, and not let much light pass through. If the whole egg lights up, its probably not fertile.

The blue line is my circling of the air cell in the big end.


This was day 10 of my last set, so this is what you should be looking for




** Notice the air cell growth from my drawn line on day 7 to where it is on day 10.

 

[miniqoos]

Wow such great pics I hope I see them that clearly in a few days fingers crossed, what did yu use to draw the air lines with? I will definitely increase the water surface area from day 14 any advice on what to use? I was thinking some are 6 days today and some are 9 days as they have been in the inc for 7 days now so I'm not counting the first day they went in but the person I got them from said they don't sell any eggs over 3 days old so I'm thinking a few could be older when posted could this be possible? Thanks again

 

[FridayYet]

Only count the days they were in the incubator, starting with day 0. If you put them all in on the same day, they are all the same "age", you don't count the days from when they were laid.

 

[WVduckchick]

Wow such great pics I hope I see them that clearly in a few days fingers crossed, what did yu use to draw the air lines with? I will definitely increase the water surface area from day 14 any advice on what to use? I was thinking some are 6 days today and some are 9 days as they have been in the inc for 7 days now so I'm not counting the first day they went in but the person I got them from said they don't sell any eggs over 3 days old so I'm thinking a few could be older when posted could this be possible? Thanks again

Quote:

Only count the days they were in the incubator, starting with day 0. If you put them all in on the same day, they are all the same "age", you don't count the days from when they were laid.

x2! Age of the egg before incubating is fine up to 10-15 days old. After that can drop off hatchability, but 3 days laid is great!

I draw my lines with a Sharpie permanent marker. Always thought it was bad, found a video where a kid colored the whole outside of eggs with markers and didn't affect the hatch at all. Researched it further and found nothing negative. I used pencil before, but it can rub off when you turn or candle. But you can use whatever you like! (although I wouldn't use a ballpoint pen, just because of the tip maybe damaging the shell) I've used the marker for my last several hatches with no bad effects!

Its hard to guess the amount of water without a hygrometer, but if any condensation forms, its too much. You want it basically heavy in the air, but not enough to condensate. If its too wet, they can drown. If its too dry, they pip and the membrane dries out and they can get stuck.

 

[miniqoos]

Thankyou very much guys il keep updating with pics and how we get along lol