Hatching help!

[Ellcrabb2203]

Hey everyone.
My quails have just hatched and this is my first time doing it and now I don’t know what to do! So far I’ve left them in the incubator but as for the rest of it, I’m at a loss. How long should I leave them in there for? When should I transfer to the brooder etc?

 

[Kale the Quail]

good questions the maximum you can leave them in the incubator for is 3 days without food or water. Don't take out the eggshells. They might want to eat it. Once you take them out and put them in the brooder you might want to leave the unhatched eggs in the incubator to see if any more will hatch. i usually wait a week or less until i get rid of the eggs. Then i break the unhatched ones and see which were fertile.

 

[mdees88]

How many eggs are in the incubator and how many have hatched so far?

I usually pull mine out 24 hours after the first chick hatches. They need to be fluffed up and not wet. If you have some fluffed up and you see no others zipping or a bunch of pips you can yank them out quick whenever. Some people will spray a mist of warm water in the incubator to quickly bring back up the humidity....

How's your brooder setup? Heat lamp or plate? Waterer?

 

[Kiki]

Hey everyone.
My quails have just hatched and this is my first time doing it and now I don’t know what to do! So far I’ve left them in the incubator but as for the rest of it, I’m at a loss. How long should I leave them in there for? When should I transfer to the brooder etc?

Move them now.

 

[Kiki]

good questions the maximum you can leave them in the incubator for is 3 days without food or water. Don't take out the eggshells. They might want to eat it. Once you take them out and put them in the brooder you might want to leave the unhatched eggs in the incubator to see if any more will hatch. i usually wait a week or less until i get rid of the eggs. Then i break the unhatched ones and see which were fertile.

Not 3 days...they will die.

 

[mdees88]

I wouldn't recommend leaving them in for 3 full days either but they can definitely live that long in there, that's how hatcheries can ship day old chicks across the country.

I've left mine in 36 hours several times and around 48 hours once and I've never had a single chick die inside my incubator.

But yes don't leave them in for 3 days. Pull them out when they're fluffy or at 24ish hours....

 

[koturnix]

I heard somewhere generally chicken chicks are good for up to 24 hours in the incubator while quail chicks are up to 12 hours (due to yolk sac size). I usually leave them in there for 3-6 hours depending on how long it takes for them to dry out and if there are any pipped eggs to wait on (mist the incubator when removing chicks of course).

3 days after the first egg hatch I will give up on the remaining eggs as I deem the rest to be too weak. I used to help chicks hatch (they zipped but stuck for 24 hours and screaming or screaming inside egg on hatch day 3) but after only getting 1 successful healthy chick out of the assisted eggs I will no longer wait for late eggs/help them out of the shell.

 

[Fenrisulfr]

A big breeder here recomment to leave them in the incubator for 48h max (for quail chicks).

I normally move the dry once at 36h after the first hatched. And I also spray the remaining eggs with warm water, for the late once.