First time Quail hatching!

[Sammbalina]

Put my egg babies into lockdown Saturday night, and they were already starting to rock and roll! I went to bed last night with 2 eggs showing cracks and I figured it was just 2 that had already had slight cracks, however, I woke up this morning and 15+ are now showing cracks! The hatching has started! I hated having to leave and come to work... This is my first time incubating anything so I am super excited! If I hadn't of been sick a month ago and used most of my sick time I would SOOOO be at home hovering over the incubator! When I go to lunch I will try to remember to post pictures of the little pips. Haven't seen any beaks yet though...

What I wanted to ask was how long does it take to go from starting to pip to being out of the egg?

 

[Vyne]

Not sure about quails, but it can be a long process. It is exhausting for those little guys, and they need lots of rest in between working on the shell and absorbing the yolk. It is probably better to be at work... I stayed at home with my ducklings on hatch and I couldn't stop watching... I got nothing done for 2 days and was constantly feeling helpless!!! With my ducks it took around 72 hours for some from first pip to zip. Being how little quail are maybe they could be shorter or longer, hopefully a quail breeder will be about soon to give you a little more peace of mind.

 

[igorsMistress]

Our quail were quick! Once they started they went crazy. It was all over in about 14 hours.

Can't wait to see pics

 

[Sammbalina]

This is what we had before I left for work. My mom sent me an update video, but it won’t let me upload it. Nothing but a bunch of shaking eggs with cracks so far. Sadly mom is going to bed now so I won’t be able to get another update until I get home around 3:45

 

[Ducksandchickens]

I can’t help with the question but can’t wait for update!

 

[Erkenstein]

They generally hatch over about 24 hours if they've had steady temps during incubation. Once they start hatching, I like to take dry chicks out every few hours, when they're up and walking around but before they start pooping up the incubator.

You'll want to be quick when you get chicks out so that you don't let out the humidity.

I see that you are hatching them on wire. Ideally, as you set the eggs for lockdown you'd have lined the wire with rubber shelf liner with holes so that their feet can get a grip and they don't get spraddle legs. Too late now for that, but watch for it. You'll want to have a non-skid surface in your brooder to help prevent it. They are most likely to have that problem during the first 24 hours, but it can also be treated when they are a day old. The best method I have found is to use a piece of pipe cleaner with each end bent around an ankle (not pinching) so that it keeps the legs hip-width apart. They don't like it but it works; put the hobble on and leave it overnight and it usually resolves. Hopefully you won't have that problem but it does happen.

Have fun!

 

[Sammbalina]

The first chick! And the wire doesn’t seem to hinder it at all, it’s trying to run across the other eggs that seems to be causing it problems!

 

[chicken1234]

I found mine hatched quick! Reminded me of popcorn popping lol. I'm excited for you, I loved hatching quail!

 

[H@tcher]

Update?

 

[Sammbalina]

Is this unobsorbed yolk? If not what is it and what should I do?

Edit: it broke off, hopefully that’s not a bad thing...