First time incubating - Coturnix Quail eggs. Air sac too small? And other questions

[Linita]

If you do not have a salt tested humidity gauge then it is entirely possible that your humidity has been way higher than just 70% the whole time.
Unfortunately, I think you are not going to have a good outcome with this hatch, but don't let that deter you from trying again now that you have learned a few things while here.

Regardless of the outcome, thanks for taking the time to respond to my post. I appreciate you taking the time to do so and trying to help. And I know your intention was giving me the best advice and be helpful.

I handled the eggs carefully and I am aware that taking them into a cold environment wasnt good for them, so I made things quick. But about moving them, I feel it's probably bad for them but so is when you leave them all alone and the already hatched chicks are causing mayhem inside the incubator. I found that a lot more disturbing for the eggs than me candling, taking them out and check on them. I tried hence to take the chicks out as soon as they were dry to stop disrupting the process. Also in nature during hatching the eggs are continuously moving around and being pushed around so I don't really know how bad it is for them. But could perfectly be that in nature happens but it's still bad. How do you handle and mess around with them making sure not to disrup them? What are the things you pay attention to?

At the end, I decided to assist the hatch continuosly and ignore your advice. And I am so thankful that I did, because had I not, I'd have end up with 2/3 chicks dead. From 19 I got 18 chicks. I am very sad at the one that died, and I think, had I help him sooner, maybe he would've made it. But he had a deformed beak, so probably he had some genetic issues and probably died for some other reason.

The eggs I left most alone because I thought they'd make it with no problem because the air cell was bigger, ended up having more issues and being totally exhausted. Had I given them security holes it may not have happened. I tried to assist very catiously and I realised some eggs might have needed a bit more assistance than I gave them. But overall, I'm very proud of myself for helping out all those chicks

I followed this article
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/

And it turned out to be great advice. I am not sure if you told me to leave them alone because for some reason you assumed I would be incapable of following the guidelines of the assisted hatch, or you think it's always best not to intervene.

I don't write this comment to complain about your advice or anything, but in case someone else reads this post so that they know it turned out to be really bad advice in this case.

I didn't get any shrink wrapping and the chicks I helped out sooner giving them security holes or helping them unzip turned out a lot more energetic and were able to finish hatching on their own. The ones I left most alone ended so much weaker and needing help to fully hatch at the end from exhaustion I guess.

 

[Linita]

I think you misunderstood me. I didn't mean for you to start a brand new thread. You could have continued to post here in this thread.

In all my use of the internet Ive seen a thread being called a post. For example on Reddit. But I looked it up and it seems that you can use either the terms thread and posts or post and comments to refer to the same two things, so when you said post a new post, I understood a new thread from how I've always seem it referred to. I am not an native speaker so I didn't know this two uses.

 

[Kiki]

In all my use of the internet Ive seen a thread being called a post. For example on Reddit. But I looked it up and it seems that you can use either the terms thread and posts or post and comments to refer to the same two things, so when you said post a new post, I understood a new thread from how I've always seem it referred to. I am not an native speaker so I didn't know this two uses.

Unfortunately I am not aware of how Reddit works but here on BYC...
This topic that you started is called a thread.
The messages that you're posting here under this topic/ thread are called posts or messages.
Usually it's best to keep everything about the same situation/problem you're having in one thread.

 

[Kiki]

Regardless of the outcome, thanks for taking the time to respond to my post. I appreciate you taking the time to do so and trying to help. And I know your intention was giving me the best advice and be helpful.

I handled the eggs carefully and I am aware that taking them into a cold environment wasnt good for them, so I made things quick. But about moving them, I feel it's probably bad for them but so is when you leave them all alone and the already hatched chicks are causing mayhem inside the incubator. I found that a lot more disturbing for the eggs than me candling, taking them out and check on them. I tried hence to take the chicks out as soon as they were dry to stop disrupting the process. Also in nature during hatching the eggs are continuously moving around and being pushed around so I don't really know how bad it is for them. But could perfectly be that in nature happens but it's still bad. How do you handle and mess around with them making sure not to disrup them? What are the things you pay attention to?

At the end, I decided to assist the hatch continuosly and ignore your advice. And I am so thankful that I did, because had I not, I'd have end up with 2/3 chicks dead. From 19 I got 18 chicks. I am very sad at the one that died, and I think, had I help him sooner, maybe he would've made it. But he had a deformed beak, so probably he had some genetic issues and probably died for some other reason.

The eggs I left most alone because I thought they'd make it with no problem because the air cell was bigger, ended up having more issues and being totally exhausted. Had I given them security holes it may not have happened. I tried to assist very catiously and I realised some eggs might have needed a bit more assistance than I gave them. But overall, I'm very proud of myself for helping out all those chicks

I followed this article
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/

And it turned out to be great advice. I am not sure if you told me to leave them alone because for some reason you assumed I would be incapable of following the guidelines of the assisted hatch, or you think it's always best not to intervene.

I don't write this comment to complain about your advice or anything, but in case someone else reads this post so that they know it turned out to be really bad advice in this case.

I didn't get any shrink wrapping and the chicks I helped out sooner giving them security holes or helping them unzip turned out a lot more energetic and were able to finish hatching on their own. The ones I left most alone ended so much weaker and needing help to fully hatch at the end from exhaustion I guess.

I'm a little confused.

You didn't let any of the eggs hatch on their own. You actually opened all of the eggs and hatched them yourself but none of them were shrink wrapped or had issues except the one with the deformed beak?
A lot of them are weak?

 

[stephanadams_]

It’s never really a good idea IME to attempt assisted hatching for quail. They usually have defects that result in low survival/high cull rate.
First step before incubating again is to make sure that you check your temps and humidity with “calibrated” instruments to ensure that your parameters are accurate.