hatched quail, now what?

[Little-Farmer]

I've read and read. The simple explanation is confusing me. I have a brood box ready at 100% under the heat lamp.

Do I take him out now so he can get food and/or water or do I leave him in the incubator to dry???

I've heard leave them in. And I've heard give them food and water right away. But how do I do both? Won't the water lid bring up the humidity on the other eggs and get too hot if I put it in the incubator with him and the other eggs???

Thanks for any help!

 

[Twistedfeather]

I would wait a little while longer but last time we hatched out our chickens (I guess this is different than quail) we let them in even though they weren't fully dried. Since quail are smaller I would wait until they are a bit drier but still get him out of there. When did he hatch?

 

[Little-Farmer]

about thirty minutes ago. He's trying to get up but having a hard time. He's breathing hard. Not sure if that's normal or not. He struggled getting out of the egg. Again, not sure if that's normal or not. This is our first hatch.

 

[Twistedfeather]

Okay keep a sharp eye on him, give it a half an hour then see where he is and how dry he is. You don't want him to get dehydrated nor do you want him to get cold

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Congrats on your hatcher
Leave him in the incubator to dry off. He does not need food or water yet he will survive on the yolk sac he absorbed during the hatching process. Keeping your incubator closed and the humidity up is the best option all round for your other eggs. Opening it could cause other chicks to become shrink wrapped in the shell. He should encourage others to start hatching with his peeping. Leaving him in also gives him chance to rest/sleep off all the hard work he has done hatching.

I don't like to open the incubator at all until the hatch is complete or it looks full hatchers. Most stay in for 24 hours plus and they are fine. I do the same for quail and chicken eggs.

Wishing you the best of luck hope you have some more hatchers soon. How many eggs have you got left to hatch?

 

[Little-Farmer]

He's getting more alert and trying to stand upright when he gets the strength which makes me think he's doing just fine. I noticed he's pecking at small piece of egg shell from his hatching...

 

[Little-Farmer]

Thank you Yorkshire coop! And Twisted feather!

So glad there's a place to get immediate help with our little birdies!

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

This is an excellent article on hatching quail https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-quail-eggs-and-brooding-quail-chicks

Him not standing straight away is quite normal, hatching is so very hard work for them. He will probably sleep a fair bit too to gain his strength. Hope you find the article useful, I am sure you will. Keep us posted on how your hatch continues.

 

[Little-Farmer]

My newest obstacle... I had another bird hatch over night and one hatching right now. The other two birds were pecking the hatching bird so much that I took them out of the incubator and put them in the brood box (a cardboard box) I had the heat lamp and thermometer pre-adjusted with the thermometer on the ground directly under the light reading 100 degree f with the light at the edge of the box so that they can move out of it if they wanted. When I put the thermometer on the wall (o they wouldn't slip on it) it was reading four degrees less so I put another thometer that dangles from a string int he too. Both birds moved out of the light but huddled up in the dim corner. Now the thermometers are reading 92 degrees because I turned it down when they tried to get out of it. They were also acting very aggressive (it seemed to me).

should I trust the thermometers or the birds behavior? Do I turn it up to 100 despite that they are trying to get out of the light or do I adjust it so that they want under the light? Maybe a bigger box with a lid???

 

[Little-Farmer]

We ended up pulling 7 out of the incubator last night and putting them in the brooder. It was getting awfully smelly in that incubator when they started pooping.

We woke up with thirteen total this morning and all the "older" chicks in the brooder are thriving. I think I see a couple more pips. Sadly, I think we lost one in the egg but I'm not certain. It pipped, and even made a small opening yesterday evening but as I watched him later on, there was no movement through that hole. This morning, the egg is still in its place and the exposed membrane through the hole is yellowish brown. I'm not sure what to do with him now, if I just continue to wait or try to open the egg in case he's still alive or just count him as a loss.

Funny how they call it lock down and "don't touch the eggs again." Our little birds are bowling with them! I can hardly keep track of them because they are being rolled everywhere. I hope this isn't having an impact on their hatching!