First time hatching - coturnix quail eggs

[pseudoarmadillo]

Hi all! I'm a bit excited/terrified - I bought a Janoel12 incubator and ordered some fertile quail eggs, and set it all up and started incubation of 16 eggs 10 days ago. Turns out the incubator is rubbish - I think the thermostat broke about 6 days in, and it overheated horribly - I thought I must have cooked all the babies. Since then I've been doing a chaotic ad-hoc arrangement with the eggs sitting in the incubator egg-tray/base inside an esky and the incubator lid (heater and fan) balanced beside them, and regulating the temp by opening/closing the esky lid! I was sure they'd all be dead. But we candled them yesterday and all except 5 are dark with a clearly distinguishable air cell, and we even saw good veins and some little legs kicking and chicks shifting around. So, if i can keep up the struggle to maintain a good temp for another few days, we might have some baby quail. Just wanted to share with some people who might relate to the excitement... :-D

 

[GoldenFlight]

I hope your babies make it! I'm hoping to order some quail eggs soon too!

 

[dawnmt70]

Crud. I just got that incubator.

 

[pseudoarmadillo]

It's behaving itself now! We've just had some really hot days and I think it couldn't cope with the room temperature oscillating between really hot and air-conditioned. I ended up putting it inside an esky to try and protect it from shifts in temperature, adn that seemed to work. And candled a couple of eggs last night and saw some little legs kicking or something, so it looks like the temp spikes haven't killed them, anyway! Although, honestly, I feel so clueless I'll be amazed if any of them make it...

 

[dawnmt70]

That honestly makes me feel much better! If they are wiggling around now you should have a decent hatch provided things continue well. Would love to hear back when they do!

 

[pseudoarmadillo]

I will definitely be boring everybody with lots of photos of new chicks... hopefully!

 

[GoldenFlight]

I will definitely be boring everybody with lots of photos of new chicks... hopefully!

Won't be boring for me!

 

[pseudoarmadillo]

Well, they're in lockdown! fingers crossed...

 

[GoldenFlight]

I can't wait for pictures!!!!!!! What color are they?

 

[pseudoarmadillo]

I dont know yet what colours we'll get... the breeder that I bought the eggs off has a wide range of colours (and breeds super-large quail, apparently) so we'll see. It's nice to have the surprise to look forward to. I woke up this morning and lots of them are pipping, and I've heard a few little cheeps, so I've obviously managed not to kill them and its all on!