I legit need help with these eggs, please. Coturnix.

[Riane]

So day 16 early morning I had three babies hatch. The remaining nine eggs were left in the incubator, with the settings unchanged. I have two highly rated hygrometers and thermometers inside the incubator, aside from the built in one. Everything has been at 99.5F and 70-75% humidity. There are four eggs that have been wiggling fairly consistently, multiple times each day. No smell of rot, though I suspect the other eggs were always infertile (but I'm giving them a chance).

By noon, it will officially be 21 days in. What do I do? The woman who sold me the eggs is really pushing me to open them, saying if I do not help them hatch, they will die. But everything I've read and watched says never to do that. The eggs are not pipped. I had thought some were but those were just odd spots of discoloration. Two are wiggling as I write this. I play sound files of chicks chirping, I talk to them constantly, I even have missed a ton of sleep to check the temps and humidity like every hour. I want these babies to live. Please help.

Edit: I think the three early birds hatched so soon because they were much smaller. The current eggs are like 1.5 times bigger than the three that hatched. I don't know if that matters.

Edit 2: Here is a video of one of the eggs wiggling, this was like 2 hours ago.

https://imgur.com/a/T3Tbuit

 

[Green Bean Quail]

Please take my advice with a grain of salt, but if the owner is pushing you to open it you might as well. I hesitated too long opening an egg and it lost the chick. If it truly is 21 days, they may be zip locked to the egg, or struggling to hatch, but 21 isn’t neccusariky the all-in cutoff. They might still need a day or so. You have to ask whether you want to take a risk. If they die from the egg beinf opens too early, they die. If they stay in the egg too long, they die. It’s one of the tough calls you have to make as a quail owner but I’d see if the eggs are still active in a few hours or day, candle and carefully try to open them. There are multiple threads on how to do this.

 

[Riane]

Please take my advice with a grain of salt, but if the owner is pushing you to open it you might as well. I hesitated too long opening an egg and it lost the chick. If it truly is 21 days, they may be zip locked to the egg, or struggling to hatch, but 21 isn’t neccusariky the all-in cutoff. They might still need a day or so. You have to ask whether you want to take a risk. If they die from the egg beinf opens too early, they die. If they stay in the egg too long, they die. It’s one of the tough calls you have to make as a quail owner but I’d see if the eggs are still active in a few hours or day, candle and carefully try to open them. There are multiple threads on how to do this.

Can you link me? I've only found instructions for pipped eggs.

 

[AltonaAcres]

First step would be to candle and see if they have internally pipped yet. Second step would be to make a safety hole over the air cell. You have the same incubator I have. Yes, larger eggs take longer to hatch

 

[Riane]

First step would be to candle and see if they have internally pipped yet. Second step would be to make a safety hole over the air cell. You have the same incubator I have. Yes, larger eggs take longer to hatch

I have been trying to candle them but I can't see much of anything. I can see a blob wiggling, and I can see the air cell in them, but barely. I tried using my phone light to do it, but it's not super bright.

 

[AltonaAcres]

You will need to do it in the dark. What do you see IN the air cell? A shadow? Breathing movements? Or does it look completely normal?

 

[Riane]

You will need to do it in the dark. What do you see IN the air cell? A shadow? Breathing movements? Or does it look completely normal?

Ohh, I'll go try one right now. Should I start with the wiggling eggs or one that is probably no good as a test?

 

[AltonaAcres]

Do the no - good one. If it is wiggling the chick is rotating into it's hatching position and moving it could harm it. However if the wiggly one still hasn't pipped by this early afternoon I would candle it.

 

[Riane]

You will need to do it in the dark. What do you see IN the air cell? A shadow? Breathing movements? Or does it look completely normal?

Hey, I candled them like you said, three are clearly wiggling and alive and the air cell doesn't look like it's been pipped. One was a total dud (I opened it and sure enough never even fertilized) and two, I'm not sure. They look a little like the first three, but I don't see movement. And they kind of look hazy.

Like I can see the air cell, but there's not that crisp line around it, it's kind of fuzzy?

 

[FloorCandy]

I had 3 shrink wraps, I waited too long to assist and only 1 was alive still. It’s a hard call to make.