FLOAT test CONFUSION!!!

[tyniskee]

I keep reading different things on different sites and this is driving me crazy regarding 'float testing' eggs.

One person says if they sink they are bad, and if they float they are good....yet two minutes later i see the opposite being said.

I have about 50 quail on day 7 of incubation...I can see inside a lot of them and some seem to be growing daily, so i'm not worried about those.

Some haven't made a change for days and some i can't see inside. Those are the ones i want to test, but i have no idea how thanks to all this confusing information on the web (First time quailer' if it helps)

I also read that you CAN not get the eggs wet or if the egg is fertile the water can drown it...so how exactly can i float test them?

None of this makes any sense...i'm more confused now than when i started 7 days ago!

 

[tyniskee]

and for anyone who does read this....i tested 7, only one floated..and that was one of the ones i was concerned about..so i am really hoping it means that is the only one out of the 7 that are dud...

 

[missnu01]

I think the float test is to see if an egg is bad to eat or not...I'm pretty sure that bad eggs float, as the bacteria inside making the egg rot start pumping out lots of noxious gasses. If you float test a live egg it will kill it. So I'm pretty sure float tests aren't for incubating eggs. I could be way off here though, so hopefully someone else will chime in with better news, but I think the float test is for when you find an egg in a weird spot, and don't know how long it has been there.

 

[tyniskee]

Okay thanks...i have been told about an hour ago by someone who raises chickens and ducks that you can float test live eggs (she did with hers last week and they hatched) but you have to make it quick and dry them instantly.

Hoping the same goes for Quail too, she seems to think so. Suppose only time will tell ey?

*she also told me as long as the water is not colder than the egg it should not affect the embryo..

 

[missnu01]

Ok. Well I guess you learn something new everyday...I haven't dealt with any hatching eggs at all..just started with chickens myself...just been reading a whole lot, but research isn't the same as actual experience.

 

[tyniskee]

Oh yes, i used to think i did enough research but i guess you never can when it comes to this type of thing, and good luck with your chickens

 

[missnu01]

Thank you. Good luck with your quail...don't know why I thought guineas...Sorry....

 

[ducksliketoswim]

You've candled the eggs? Ive never tried to float test because I always thought i'd kill the lil'guys but have found candling the eggs to be the easiest way. That being said the only eggs i've ever incubated are duck eggs, so I dont know if some eggs are harder to candle than others (due to their color). Quail dont take to long to hatch so what I would do is just keep turning 'em and see what happens, gl!

 

[tyniskee]

I went with my gut...because it wouldn't stop annoying me. Found two which i believed to be no good...after an hour i had finally convinced to crack them...
Rather glad i did, there was nothing in them and now i have less to turn

The candling is only possible on about 8 of these and can be difficult, you can't see anything except every few days the embryo is larger.

 

[sydney quailman]

hi i find it very hard to candle quail eggs as you cant see in them well, what i have been told is that, if it sinks its bad egg, if it is really high only only 1/4 in the water no good, if it floats and you see it wriggling around, its hard to explain, if the water is still, the egg will rock sort of side to side its good.. i suggest try looking up float test on you tube and might find some video of a float test. i dont bother with candling, good luck with it all! cheers sam