Going into Lockdown a day early...

[ande1560]

Hey everyone!
I'm new here and this is my first hatch. I currently have 30 quail eggs in a homemade incubator and they are set to go on lockdown tomorrow. I won't be around for most of the day, so I was wondering if I could start their lockdown a day early to make sure I can get the humidity up without altering the temperature too much. Is is better to go in a day early, or a day late? Tomorrow is day 14 for them and quail eggs hatch on day 17 (for those who aren't quail hatching).

Thank you for all the help!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don’t hatch quail, just chickens and occasionally turkeys, but I think the same principles are involved.

It’s not that critical as to exactly when you do it. The goal is to up the humidity before the eggs pip but after they have lost enough moisture so the air cell is big enough so the chick can learn to breathe air instead of living in a liquid environment. Many people count the days wrong with chickens and go into a lockdown a full day early. That hardly ever causes a problem. There is a fairly wide range of how much moisture has to be lost before they can safely hatch. You don’t want them to lose too much moisture because that membrane around them can shrink-wrap them. There is a balance, but if that balance were real tight we would not hatch many chicks.

Personally in your situation I’d go early enough to get it stabilized. I think that gives you your best odds.

 

[ande1560]

Thank you, Ridgerunner! I was thinking the same thing