I Opened The egg. (Coturnix Quail) 4 days late incubating. Help!

[savannahRoos22]

Hi! I have 7 eggs, 1 infertile. I opened my egg today, knowing there would be a chick in there. Its been about 4 and a half days since it was supposed to hatch. I opened one, not surprised because of my candleing, there was a chick in there, I broke through all membrane and carefully too. Pulled the chick out, and I think it is not breathing or moving, the yolk and veins are still connected to the chick, and it does not seem completely done growing. But there was no blood ring, and I don't know why this is. What is wrong with all of them? I am so sad, and of course heart broken. I'm in highschool, done alot of research, but alot of the information I need has been so hard to find. An additional question is, some chicks are born with yolk, isnt it suppose to absorb by now? They've been in the incubator long than needed. The chick I opened looks completely healthy.

Please ask any questions. I just want to know how to help the other 5. (That are late as well) I don't know why the whole bunch is like this, because I have more breeds of quail in there too and some still forming healthy. All temperatures, humidity extremely close in breed. I have turned 3 or 4 times a day, increased humidity during hatching and pipping days, and added soft surfaces for their feet, and stopped moving a couple days before pipping. I am incredibly devistated because these chicks are the most important thing to me.

 

[Pyxis]

Chicks are never supposed to hatch with the yolk, and you should never, ever, pull a chick out of the shell when it still has active blood vessels and an unabsorbed yolk. Since it's not moving, it's dead. It's hard to say whether you pulling it out killed it or it was already dead when you pulled it out since you didn't mention if it was moving or not before you took it out. If it was moving, you killed it.

I'm not trying to be harsh, I'm just telling you this because I want you to understand not to do it again in the future.

If it wasn't moving at the time you opened the egg, it was already dead. Several factors could have led to this. Can you tell me what date you set the eggs, what temperature you have been keeping your incubator at, whether it is still air or forced air, and what your humidity was for both the first part of incubation and during lockdown? From the sounds of things, it seems like you may have several batches that are due to hatch at different times in the same incubator, is this true?

And for future reference, this guide will tell you how you SHOULD assist a chick, if it ever comes to that for you:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/

 

[savannahRoos22]

Chicks are never supposed to hatch with the yolk, and you should never, ever, pull a chick out of the shell when it still has active blood vessels and an unabsorbed yolk. Since it's not moving, it's dead. It's hard to say whether you pulling it out killed it or it was already dead when you pulled it out since you didn't mention if it was moving or not before you took it out. If it was moving, you killed it.

I'm not trying to be harsh, I'm just telling you this because I want you to understand not to do it again in the future.

If it wasn't moving at the time you opened the egg, it was already dead. Several factors could have led to this. Can you tell me what date you set the eggs, what temperature you have been keeping your incubator at, whether it is still air or forced air, and what your humidity was for both the first part of incubation and during lockdown? From the sounds of things, it seems like you may have several batches that are due to hatch at different times in the same incubator, is this true?

And for future reference, this guide will tell you how you SHOULD assist a chick, if it ever comes to that for you:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/

Thank you so much for your reply! So still air incubator is what I am using. It's little giant brand. My temp was 99.5.And I'm not sure about the humidity at the beginning and hatching time it was around 75. I'm so confused because some hatching people say that dry hatching will make it easier for them to hatch.
And yes I have 3 chick batches to hatch at different times. First I put in 7 small coturnix quail on the evening of September 25th. And I thought pipping day would be on oct 9th. Then I put in 36 button quail and 26 more coturnix quail(that were smaller in egg size) September 30th. And I'm still turning the smaller egged coturnix ones, but the 36 button quail are layed out on a soft sheet so they can get in hatching position. I've canceled and A LOT of my eggs are infertile or have weird red marks that aren't blood rings. I don't have the heart to throw them out so I put them on different side of incubator.

And I have A HUGE question that I have done so much research for and just can't find the answer.
WHY are some of my eggs exploding or popping. Some still have white membrane and just hard egg part cracks. There's one in specific that I Know has a chick in it. Not sure if it's alive, but it's grown really big. It seems the egg is too small. I don't know. There is no words for how much I appreciate your help. Thank you.

 

[savannahRoos22]

And also why do eggs have a droopy egg oxygen cell sometimes?

 

[Pyxis]

You're welcome! Lots of things to correct here so that you can have a successful hatch.

First thing is temperature - in a still air incubator, the temperature needs to be 101.5 degrees measured at the top of the egg, not 99.5. With the temp having been 2 degrees low, any eggs that are still alive will hatch late.

Secondly, staggered hatch. Never ever do that. Never set eggs that will hatch at different times in the same incubator unless you have a second incubator to move them into for lockdown. Staggered hatches do not allow you to have proper humidity for the different batches of eggs, which brings me to my next point.

Humidity. You should always know what humidity is during incubation. Always. In the first part of incubation, humidity is crucial to make sure the eggs lose the right amount of moisture. If they don't lose the right amount, they die before they hatch. Having no water in the incubator during the first part can work, yes, BUT it only works if the humidity during the first part is correct without adding water. For example, my humidity needs to be at 30% for the first part of incubation. During the summer, when it's more humid, it stays that way without me having to add water, so I don't. However, in early to mid spring, late fall, and winter, it's too low without adding water, so I have to add water or the eggs won't hatch.

Your eggs are exploding because they are rotting. The chick inside died and decomposition led to the release of gas that built up in the egg and eventually filled the egg so much that the pressure cracked it or made it explode.

As for the air cell question, I'd have to see a picture to see what you mean.

Don't take this the wrong way, but a lot of this info is basic, so you might not have done as much as you thought you did prior to this, and I'd recommend that you might want to do some more.

Start with this website and read all the sections: https://hatching411.weebly.com/

 

[DIGGIN CHICKEN]

Staggered hatches do not allow you to have proper humidity for the different batches of eggs, which brings me to my next point.

busy experimenting with that now ... found that an even 60 percent humidity through out still gives me about a 66 percent hatch rate ... had 44 hatch out of 66 last 3 days ...which i think ain't too bad considering ...

 

[Pyxis]

busy experimenting with that now ... found that an even 60 percent humidity through out still gives me about a 66 percent hatch rate ... had 44 hatch out of 66 last 3 days ...which i think ain't too bad considering ...

But without a staggered hatch, you very well may have had a much higher hatch rate. So even though you still got some to hatch, it could have been better without the staggered hatch. I routinely get 100% hatch rates. I do set more than one batch at a time, but I have a second incubator to move eggs into when they are ready for lockdown.

So you might want to try not staggering next time and comparing

 

[DIGGIN CHICKEN]

got a big bator (m almost 200) and not enough eggs for the time being ... so load 66 a week ... when i get more laying hens later will do them in singular batches .

 

[Ulaidian]

I just eat the ones I am not cooking in the bator.. That said, calibration is REALLY important with the new fangled 'auto' jobbies from China. Most seem to work fine, they just need a good bedding in and to be calibrated.

 

[savannahRoos22]

Here is an example of the eggcells. But why are a few of my chicks dying and exploding so far along in their growing? They're almost filling up the whole egg. And I saw somewhere that the size of the egg cell shows growth in the egg but
I'm not sure.