Hatching Button Quail

[PinkFlamingoFrm]

Hi everyone! I have an order of button quail eggs being shipped to me on monday, and I am in the process of getting everything ready for them. This is my first time incubating eggs & I dont want to make any stupid mistakes. Can anyone give advice on hatching button quail eggs? I have been doing research and I am trying to regulate the temp in my incubator to 100 degrees now. I am getting a hydrometer tomorrow and a back up thermometer, and shelf liner to lay the eggs on. Is there anything else I am missing? or any advice anyone has? thanks!

 

[lacasapollo2013]

it only takes 12 to 13 day to hatch

 

[PinkFlamingoFrm]

it only takes 12 to 13 day to hatch

really? thats it? all the articles I've read on button quails say anywhere from 16-21 days.. but 12-13 is even better

 

[SavageChick]

Not meaning to cause conflict with the previous poster, but I have found that it generally takes 16-18 days for button quail to hatch, turning them until day 13, and then going into "lock-down" mode for the remaining 3-5 days. Since this is your first hatch, you will find that your most valuable learning comes from trial and error with your current incubator settings. On my first hatch, I kept the temp at 100F degrees, but found that my buttons hatched early, with several remaining in the shell and dead after pipping. My second hatch was at a lower temperature (99.4F degrees) with better success. While some web sources recommend temperatures as high as 101F degrees, I wouldn't try this with my particular incubator due to the fact that I had such an early and less than desirable hatch with higher temps the first time. It may take a few hatches to get a sense of where your temps and humidity readings should be in your specific brand of incubator. If it is a still-air incubator, you want the temps to be slightly lower, while an incubator with a fan will require slightly higher temps. Also, with my Brinsea incubator, I have found that I need to increase the humidity during the incubation period beyond that which is recommended. So, again, much of it will be trial and error while you learn the operation of your incubator and observe the results of your hatch. If you are able to obtain the following book from Stromberg's website, it is well worth the read to learn more about how to raise buttons (I found this book to be the most helpful to me)...

A Closer Look At Button Quail - The Care And Breeding Of Chinese Blue Breasted Quail, by Jodi McDonald

 

[GrandmaBird]

you can also buy Jodi's book from her at her web site :
www.brackenridgeranch.com

It is a great thing to have and read.

It will take anywhere from 16-21 days after the first 24 hour period to hatch. Lock down, no more turning, is day 13 after the first 24 hours.
What I mean by the first 24 hours is this:
if you place the eggs in the incubator on Monday the 1st at 9am then day one is AFTER Tuesday the 2nd at 9am. so on the calendar, day 13 would actually be the 14th of the month. hope this makes sense. and good luck it is addicting to have these little guys!

 

[PinkFlamingoFrm]

you can also buy Jodi's book from her at her web site :
www.brackenridgeranch.com

It is a great thing to have and read.

It will take anywhere from 16-21 days after the first 24 hour period to hatch. Lock down, no more turning, is day 13 after the first 24 hours.
What I mean by the first 24 hours is this:
if you place the eggs in the incubator on Monday the 1st at 9am then day one is AFTER Tuesday the 2nd at 9am. so on the calendar, day 13 would actually be the 14th of the month. hope this makes sense. and good luck it is addicting to have these little guys!

thank you! so on day 14 I will stop turning them, I will go ahead & grab that book. I'm hoping I atleast get a few to hatch.

 

[PinkFlamingoFrm]

Not meaning to cause conflict with the previous poster, but I have found that it generally takes 16-18 days for button quail to hatch, turning them until day 13, and then going into "lock-down" mode for the remaining 3-5 days. Since this is your first hatch, you will find that your most valuable learning comes from trial and error with your current incubator settings. On my first hatch, I kept the temp at 100F degrees, but found that my buttons hatched early, with several remaining in the shell and dead after pipping. My second hatch was at a lower temperature (99.4F degrees) with better success. While some web sources recommend temperatures as high as 101F degrees, I wouldn't try this with my particular incubator due to the fact that I had such an early and less than desirable hatch with higher temps the first time. It may take a few hatches to get a sense of where your temps and humidity readings should be in your specific brand of incubator. If it is a still-air incubator, you want the temps to be slightly lower, while an incubator with a fan will require slightly higher temps. Also, with my Brinsea incubator, I have found that I need to increase the humidity during the incubation period beyond that which is recommended. So, again, much of it will be trial and error while you learn the operation of your incubator and observe the results of your hatch. If you are able to obtain the following book from Stromberg's website, it is well worth the read to learn more about how to raise buttons (I found this book to be the most helpful to me)...

A Closer Look At Button Quail - The Care And Breeding Of Chinese Blue Breasted Quail, by Jodi McDonald

thank you, that is what I have been reading, that it takes about 16+ days to incubate. I'm hoping I get atleast a few to hatch out of the eggs I am getting. I do have a still air incubator, I got it at tractor supply. I was thinking about buying an egg turner but the research that I was doing says they arent very good for quail eggs, so I will just turn them myself, and I'm gonna go order the book!

 

[luluquail]

Hi everyone! I have an order of button quail eggs being shipped to me on monday, and I am in the process of getting everything ready for them. This is my first time incubating eggs & I dont want to make any stupid mistakes.  Can anyone give advice on hatching button quail eggs? I have been doing research and I am trying to regulate the temp in my incubator to 100 degrees now. I am getting a hydrometer tomorrow and a back up thermometer, and shelf liner to lay the eggs on.  Is there anything else I am missing? or any advice anyone has? thanks! 

Hi
I am currently hatching 65 quail eggs between button quail and coturnix quail.
It is a lot.
Anyways my incubator is set to about 40 degrees Celsius.
I wasn't sure if you meant Celsius or Fahrenheit.
I put water in mine every other day.
I am one of the only breeders in my area.
I use paper towel for my button quail eggs so that I can fit two to a hole for about a chicken egg.

 

[DK newbie]

40 degrees Celsius will roast your eggs, if I'm not mistaken. The temp should be around 38 C as far as I know. The 100 degrees mentioned by pink is in Fahrenheit.

 

[Binki]

Just wanted to mention that even the built in LG brand thermometers have been known to be off by a few degrees so it is possible you're reading 100 but the actual temp is something like 97 or the opposite, 103 :O

You can calibrate a thermometer yourself or take it into consideration if your eggs hatch early/other temperature related hatching issues