How important is humidity when incubating quail eggs?

[Sinar]

Hello,

I’m new to this forum and to poultry keeping and I would like to keep quail, starting with fertile eggs and an incubator.

I’m currently researching incubators and I’m not sure if I need one that automatically regulates humidity, they seem quite a lot more expensive than those that don’t automatically regulate humidity, but if needed I will pay the extra for one. I will be out of the house for 15 hours a day on my work days so will be getting one that automatically rotates the eggs.

Any advice appreciated, thanks for reading, I’m really enjoying reading this forum and am learning a lot.

 

[igorsMistress]

i can tell you from my experience with chicken eggs that humidity is important, not a good hatching experience. I fixed some things and was diligent about humidity when I hatched quail and my hatch rate was excellent.

Since you'll be gone for extended periods of time I think it best to get one that regulates humidity for you.

I work at home and use a Hovabator but I'm getting a Humidikit to add. My environment is very dry and I don't have a lot of time to babysit an incubator.

 

[feedman77]

Humidity is very area specific to you. Lots of factors can contribute to what you need your incubator to regulate. The room its in, time of year whether heating and type, open windows or cooling with ac. Plus altitude.

I personally dont stress on humidity that much. I dry incubate and shoot for humidity from 20 to 25 percent during incubation then raise to 75 plus for hatch.
But what I've found that works for me may be a disaster for you.

Best advice I can give is during incubation and hatch keep good notes of eggs set, humidity, and number hatched. Stuck chicks, fully formed chicks that didnt hatch. Chicks that hatched days early or late. These will help determine if humidity or temp was high or low.

If you have an excellent hatch try to repeat with same numbers. If your hatch doesnt turn out make a small change to humidity and or temp and try another batch.

It took several batches before I got good results.

As far as an incubator on humidity some are close some pretty far off even in top of the line bators.

Quail eggs are pretty forgiving as far as hatching eggs. About the easiest to hatch I've found.

 

[Sinar]

Thanks for the replies. I’ve just bought an incubator with automatic humidity control.

 

[Crazydoglady99]

Good luck with your hatch

Keep us updated !!

 

[Sinar]

Thanks. I’m really excited to get started

 

[JaeG]

Temperature by far is more important than humidity. The correct temperature ensures the egg loses enough moisture. If they are a bit too cold they can't lose moisture as efficiently. Don't stress about humidity too much and remember it's the average humidity that matters, so the odd spike or dip is nothing to panic about.

This is a snippit from a study into the affects of high or low temperatures and humidity:
Mortality rates for both temperature-related treatments were higher during the first four days of incubation. Changes in relative humidity have produced less radical effects on mortality. Malformation rates were higher for embryos subjected to high incubation temperatures and were most prominently related to the abdominal wall, head, skull and limbs.

Overall, manipulations in environmental (incubator) temperature during incubation produced more drastic changes in embryo development than humidity-related manipulations, especially where mortality and malformation rates were concerned.

The best thing to do is regularly candle the eggs to look at how the air cell is growing. If its looking too small lower the humidity a bit. If it's looking too big bump it up a bit.

Quail shells are thick so you need a strong light to be able to decipher what's happening with the chick, but checking the air cell at around day 5, 10 and 15 (or before lockdown) will let you know if your humidity is OK. The air cells lights up easily and should be at the fat end of the egg (they can become dislodged in shipped eggs though).

I've incubated Button quail eggs at high humidity (75-80%) for the whole of their incubation before (we had a very humid summer, plus I did staggered hatches). For someone else in a different climate that may be a disaster but it worked in my situation.

Ventilation is another essential and many people permanently leave their vents open. It's critical at the hatching stage.

Focus on keeping the temperature in a good range. Quail eggs are great to hatch as they are forgiving/less fussy. But remember shipped eggs (if you are using them) have a lower hatch rate due to the stress of being bumped about in transit.

Good luck! Quail are adorable babies.

 

[Sinar]

Thanks for the informative reply. I am getting shipped eggs so don’t expect a high hatch rate. I’m going to order 12 eggs next week, even if only a few hatch out I’ll be pleased.

Does the ambient humidity affect the humidity in the incubator a great deal? It is often above 60%, does this mean the incubator won’t be able to go lower than that?

 

[JaeG]

Thanks for the informative reply. I am getting shipped eggs so don’t expect a high hatch rate. I’m going to order 12 eggs next week, even if only a few hatch out I’ll be pleased.

Does the ambient humidity affect the humidity in the incubator a great deal? It is often above 60%, does this mean the incubator won’t be able to go lower than that?

Sometimes it does seem to - I know people who run air conditioning have a lot of trouble keeping their humidity high enough, especially at 'lock-down'. At the time I was incubating the ambient humidity was 85% outside my incubator so it was an extremely humid summer. They were my own eggs so I wonder if the environment they are laid in sets them up for certain conditions. Eggs hatch in the desert as well as the rain forest after all.

Monitoring your air cells is the best way of judging how your eggs are doing so rely on them to let you know if it needs adjusting. Maybe start with 45ish% (I think that's what is usually recommended for quail) and see how that suits them.

Honestly, they are the cutest little babies. You'll love them!

 

[Sinar]

Thanks. Do you know of any online resource that shows what the air cells should be like throughout incubation?