First Coturnix hatching

[silly]

Turned off the auto turner just after 10 last night. This morning there is a little quail walking around under the turner. I see cracks in at least 4 other eggs. Saturday was my hatch date. It wont be easy to just open up and take out the baby since he is underneath. Is it safe to open or should I wait til this afternoon. I have read not to open with cracked eggs but also not to leave little ones in once dry cause they need to get out and eat. What to do? I am on my way to buy a heat lamp as soon as the store opens as i was planning to set up my brooder today thinking nothing would come out til at least tomorrow.OOPs. So excited. This is my first ever hatch.

 

[silly]

I have two now. The second one just got free and is sitting on top of his egg shell.

 

[EricShane]

hmm.. i dont know for sure.. I always take my turner out when I quit turning the eggs

 

[TexasChris]

I felt the same way I just didn't say anything.
Chris

 

[EricShane]

well silly let us know what happens!!

 

[silly]

I now have a dozen with 50 eggs left. Poor things look so worn out, but I am assuming that is normal. Nine are out in the brooder but I think I will leave the other 3 in the incubator til mornin. They dont look quite dry. I see cracks in two more eggs. Maybe the rest are waiting til they were actually supposed to hatch. I took the turner out and just sat the racks in when I took the first two out cause they kept diving through the holes in the empty egg cups and two were stuck feet up and had to be freed. If I can figure out how to post pics I will.

 

[TexasChris]

 

[silly]

15 in the brooder. 9 drying in the incubator. All nine of them popped out together in about 30 minutes. The kids were taking bets on which would be free first. All seems quiet in there now. 38 eggs left, three are cracked and a few others are wobbling.

 

[kahlertm]

When I have surprise hatches in the bator with turner on or racks in still, I grab them out and get them under heat and with a drink and food presented ASAP. Sometimes they are wet still. Better in the warm brooder with food and water and snuggly places to rest after the long hatch. Move em. I say do not wait. They need energy in food and water. Quail have small reserves comparably to other large species.

Oh, and it happens to the best of us. We set, we expect a date, and nature trumps us. I have surprise chicks turn out fine after (as one of my mentors calls it "riding the turner or riding the rack"). Immediate supportive post hatch care/energy/hydration is the best.

Best,
Tonya

 

[silly]

Finished hatching today. 38 chicks out of 62 eggs. I floated my 33 nonhatchers yesterday morning and had 9 that moved. They are probably the nine the kids kept putting in when they gathered the eggs those first three days after I started incubating.( We have three hens and two roos. Thought i had four hens til one of them crowed last week. Oh well.) Of the other 24 I floated 2 were totally dehydrated, 1 looked like a normal egg only watery so i assume it wasnt fertile, six had nearly done fully feathered dead chicks with yolk on the outside, and 15 must have given up early on cause while there was signs of something developing they were mostly just gross. I returned my nine movers to the incubator where they pipped yesterday and hatched today. Two of the first 29 that hatched ever really grew and have moved on. Still I have 36 coturnix chicks from my hatch plus my five grown birds, plus the 20 gg bobwhites i got right before mine hatched. Guess I better get busy building some new coops. The pic is of my bobs right after I got them. They have grown a lot in the last week and a half.