Hatching quail eggs

[JaeG]

You'll be a pro before long, don't you worry, especially if you hang around this lovely site.

The air cell is at the fat end of the egg. It grows whether you incubate or not, whether it's fertile or not - that's why a 'stale' egg floats and why a fresh egg sinks. As you incubate the air cell grows in size as the egg loses moisture and the chick grows. It needs to grow to a certain size as chicks internally pip into that air cell a day or so before hatching and the air in there sustains them until they can make an external pip, letting in more oxygen. So sufficient fresh air going into the incubator at hatch time is very important - make sure your incubator vents are open.

Here is a diagram of how the air cell should grow:

This is also a very good site that shows you the change in the egg and embryo over the course of incubation. It's to do with chicken eggs, but a quail develops just the same, just a little faster or slower depending on the species of quail. It's got a lot of relevant information so it's well worth a good read.
http://www.raising-happy-chickens.com/incubation-day-1.html

 

[Sara White]

So how would I know if they are good hatching eggs right now? What should I look for with a flashlight on the egg?

 

[JaeG]

You can't tell until they have been incubated for about 4 days - then you see a little dark red blob with spidery veins coming off it. Don't discard any until you check at about 10 days as sometimes they trick you! By 10 days it should be clear which are developing and which aren't. If in doubt, leave them in. Hold the egg with your index finger and thumb curved around it to hold it reasonably securely and hold it over your light - your finger and thumb block out excess light. I've found my cellphone flashlight is nice and bright. It's magical when you can see those developing babies moving around in their eggs!