Hand Turning Quail Eggs!

[Isablahblah]

I just got my quail eggs and was thinking of using the auto-matic turner but since it only holds 42 and i got 60 from Mrs. AK-Bird-Brain ( thanks for the extras) I will have to hand turn them. what can i use to mark them so i can tell that i have turned them?

 

[bigkford]

I put the date on one side of them. The day I set them in the incubator. The other side I put either x or o that way I don't forget what day I set them and also make my calender. It has worked so far.

 

[Isablahblah]

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yeah but what materail do you use to mark them because my teacher on white chicken eggs used pencil but it is hard to see on the spoted quail eggs

 

[bigkford]

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yeah but what materail do you use to mark them because my teacher on white chicken eggs used pencil but it is hard to see on the spoted quail eggs

I used a fine line permanent marker. Or a carpenters pencil. Either way I have had good hatches. My bobwhites are hatching now and I used a permanent marker on them. I know they is debate about what to use, but I've seen no difference whether pencil or marker, except those erasable markers. They tend to fade away.

 

[Highland Moongazer]

I used a bright blue colored pencil. :c) It does wear off with time, but you can either reapply it, or just ignore it, since it'll be near hatch time anyhow.

 

[monarc23]

My method is way more simple than any of these methods.


1. I use nontoxic markers (colored sharpies i love, and roseart work well too though they tend to bleed with the humidity which makes reading them a pain) to only write on the blunt part of each egg which variety/pen the egg came from "T" for "tuxedo" "R" for "red".

I put the eggs in the trays, and 2-3 times a day i just place my flat hand over a bunch of hte eggs and roll them to the left or to the right (which ever way...) then when it's the second time to roll them I roll them farther the one way or to the right this time. Theres not a science to it the eggs technically dont even need turned and you can still see good hatches. I never pay attention to if I really turned to this side before or not as it doesn't make a difference to the chicks developing inside the egg. The x and o method is too time consuming and pointless for me to do lol I've done it before and it was too time consuming (as im always hatching) it's so much more simple to just gently roll them. It involves no picking them up or anything just a slight turn to the left or right

If i forget to do it twice or three times a day has no ill effect on the resulting chicks. Theres actualy been a few days where i didnt turn them at all...again no ill effects. My friend who I hatch marans for was asking me how time consuming it must be for me to hatch and tatke care of as many eggs as I do and she was stunned to learn that it's not as hard as some articles make it out to be online. As long as your incubator holds a good temperature and your humidity is correct the whole hatch (and as long as the eggs are fertile and not damaged in shipping if shipped to you) you'll have a great hatch. turning them has very little to do with it esp. in coturnix.

The way i do it makes the incubator able to get back up to temperature and humdity quicker than if i was sitting there going okay they're at O now it's tiime to make sure each one is turned x lol.

 

[becky3086]

Humm, I reach in and stir the eggs several times a day and don't worry about whether I do it perfectly. The mothers don't turn perfectly every time and I don't think it is nearly as important as we think it is. I keep hatching quail so I guess not.

 

[monarc23]

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I couldn't have (and didnt) say it better myself!

A lot of people stress way too much over the turning part and it's easy peasy guys don't make it complicated no reason to promise

Like i said a good incubator is the key here

 

[Isablahblah]

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thanks for the info i was wondering do you clip one ar both wings on your birds?

 

[monarc23]

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thanks for the info i was wondering do you clip one ar both wings on your birds?

For wing clipping I do both wings as I like to keep things the same ballance for the birds. If one side is light with less feathers and the other side is heavy with them I can imagine it causes some discomfort so I do both. For pinnoning I only take the tip of the wing off so I only do the one, plus I like to avoid any added stress so one quick snip and leave them alone is how i try to keep it