Hatching questions.

[Rosanna9246]

I’m new to chicken egg hatching. Quail never a problem. But I’ve been trying for a couple months and not having too much luck, Mostly because they are shipped eggs. So far out of 15 eggs incubated I got 2 adorable chicks, I have (had) 7 copper morans on day 21. Today I noticed a slight smell. I saw two of them weeping this crystal stuff. At first I thought it was just humidity dew but looking up things on the internet got me panicked. I didn’t want to open the incubator as I have been having a hell of a time getting the humidity stable. I made the decision to open it and removed the two weepers. They had an off smell but nothing bad. I got rid of them. I have 5 left. Nothing pipping and I made sure after checking them over the placed them back exactly the same as I found them. Hopefully I didn’t just destroy 3 weeks of waiting. I’m starting to think I should stick to quail hatching. Anything to worry about? (I’m thinking I may have messed up when I set them as I had a cold.)

 

[NatJ]

Opening the incubator once should not be a big problem.

Shipping can be very hard on eggs, so that is probably what caused the trouble.

(I’m thinking I may have messed up when I set them as I had a cold.)

I would not think so. Human cold germs should not infect eggs or chicks, and if you were healthy enough set the eggs you probably did all the right things.

I’m starting to think I should stick to quail hatching.

Or maybe try chicken eggs that have not been shipped. If you have a flock of your own, or are able to raise a few chicks to maturity, you could try hatching eggs from your own chickens in the future.