First hatch- Dry hatch or high humidity

[QuandaryQuail]

Hi-
This is my first time ever posting as well as my first hatch and I have some newbie questions. I have been reading the quail post for 6 months now till we could get settled in our new house to get going on quail. I have tried to pull together advice, but there is a lot of it out there. Let me just give you a background on where I am to see if I am doing anything wrong. I had 48 Jumbo brown quail eggs shipped through USPS. I stored them at 70F for 24 hours to let them settle after shipment. Meanwhile incubator was stabilizing. I filled the one tray as the instructions told me to do so and have kept the temp around 99 as best I could. Then I put them in my 2362N Hovabator. This forum is addicting and I read about dry hatch and all the different humidity levels people advise. I am now on day 13, with Lock Down tomorrow. I have been trying to follow some of the things on the dry hatch method. From my understanding the dry hatch says that you should take out the vent holes and use the room’s humidity levels to keep around 35-40%. That way the egg is not accumulating water in the air sac. So I have both the vent plugs out and my humidity is between 30-50%. The humidity fluctuates so much in my little Styrofoam incubator. On day 10 I candled them and 16 of them were completely clear- broken shells/unfertilized. I also am hand turning the eggs 3-5 times per day. I have three thermometers in there (water wiggler, temp/humidity, incubator factory thermometer)- the temp has for the most part stayed at 99. Yesterday it has been going up to 100. So I don’t know what to do tomorrow. The dry hatch post on this site says that I shouldn’t go above 58% humidity. I don’t know if all this only applies to chickens or if it is a good method for quail also. I will be so heartbroken if I don’t get any to hatch. I am constantly in there, because the process is so amazing to me, I am probably candling them too much! However, all 32 of them left are very dark inside and have a air sac on the end.

1. Should I put the vent plugs back in?
2. What humidity level should I go to?
3. It smells in there, so I must have a bad egg. Is there any way to know which one it is, or just leave it.

Pictures of candling at 5 days

 

[Stellar]

Quote:
Welcome!!

1. vent plugs stay off

I have a hovabator used just for a hatcher and vent plugs go off at hatching time. Try not to open that incubator during lockdown either

I know it's tempting...just talk to the eggs through the window

2. My humidity level is 50-60% throughout incubation in hatch and my hatches come out fine

I don't increase the humidity. Just my personal preference and I get 99-100% hatch with my own eggs...shipped eggs a little less depending who I got them from. Other people like to raise the humidity and stick the eggs in egg cartons pointed end down (like when incubating) and have them hatch that way. It's all preference.

3. If it smells, quickly find that egg and remove it!!!! The smell is sulfur gas and bacteria and can seep in the other eggs and prevent them from hatching. I know that defeats the purpose of lockdown but it's what's best for your hatch.


On the bright note: GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR HATCH AND KEEP US UPDATED!!!!!

 

[QuandaryQuail]

Wow- you really can smell the bad egg. I dont know why that is surprising for me, I thought it would be difficult to pin-point.
Sure enough i missed a "clear egg" back at day 10. Thanks. I will keep you posted.

 

[wpalmisano]

Quote:
I would raise the humidity slightly during the hatch, especially if I were using a styrofoam incubator. I believe it facilitates the chick pushing out of the egg, like a lubricant. My advice is to experiment, everyone lives in different humidity conditions, Arizona dry, Florida humid, New England very dry to very humid. As for the smell, a quail egg at 100 d should not smell all that bad in 17-23 days unless it was old to begin with or is cracked. I am not saying they might not smell, I am saying it shouldn't be strong or overpowering. I put my quail and other eggs in my Sportsman incubator and leave them alone. Those that hatch, hatch, those that don't, weren't going to. The only time I candle is to show kids and visitors. When I first started doing this, I realized that I wasn't really good at candling. After candling I would mark discard eggs and put them back in the incubator. I realized the eggs marked for disposal were hatching sometimes. When I thought about the benefit of discarding bad eggs, I decided that if I could get a few extra chicks from a hatch, I would just wait it out. As for Coturnix eggs, I still can't candle the darn things, lol. Anyway, that's only my humble opinion.

 

[joe125]

Quote:
Well...a clear egg may be an unhatchable egg, but usually not dangerous. The reports of "exploding eggs" are greatly exaggerated!

The key in hatching "coturnix" isn't the exact temp./humidity/standing upright in cartons, but the airflow. Those little suckers need fresh air exchange! Pull all the stoppers, keep temp and humidity about the same...as best you can.

Oh yeah...Never try to "DRY HATCH" any game-bird! That can bite you in the tail-feathers sometimes.!

 

[QuandaryQuail]

So its day 17 and I dont even have a pip. I guess I am not even really sure what a pip is. Is that when the quail first breaks the shell? Another post said that they had a pip on day 17. Maybe I calculated wrong, i seem to get confused about if it is day 1 or 0 when you put them in the incubator. Just to clear things up they have been in the incubator for 410 hours. I really sound like a freaked out first hatcher dont I?

There are two eggs that seem to be moving? Does that mean they might pip soon. One other thread said that they could hear tweeting. I hear nothing, is that bad?

 

[Stellar]

A pip is when the egg tooth of the chick breaks through the shell.

 

[shelleyd2008]

It's very difficult to see pips in coturnix eggs unless you know what to look for. Even then, it's still hard to see them because the color of the egg. Most coturnix don't pip until right before they hatch, and technically they aren't due til tomorrow.
What date did you set them? Morning or evening?

I rarely see mine moving, and I don't think I've ever heard them peeping in the shell with the incubator closed. But if some are moving then they are getting ready to hatch. They are turning inside the egg which causes the egg to 'rock'.

 

[Stellar]

Quote:
If they are turning within the shell they are still positioning themselves to hatch

Coturnix eggs hatch in 17days although usually they hatch in 16 days-18days. If there was a pip it would be a crack but like Shelley said, hard to see, especially since you shouldn't be opening the incubator to check.

 

[JJMR794]

Dry Hatching Gamebird Eggs Resulting In Much Bad Juju--- Or A Nearly Non Existant Hatch. Keep Your Humidity Between 55-65% During Lockdown. It Also Helps If The Eggs Are In The Upright Possition For Hatching.