Incubate quails and chickens together lockdown question

[ivy_huan]

After failed my first attempt of hatching eggs I'm trying again with chicken and quails

I have one dozen of Rhode Island Red, over a dozen barnyard mix and one dozen quails in the incubator together all set on the same day

It's been 8 days and I candled them about 5 out of all the chicken eggs were not fertile.

I'm gonna keep my hands off them this time now till lockdown but since I have both quails and chickens together. I'm thinking about locking down on day 16 to increase humidity. Does that sound okay for chicken eggs ?

Also when I prepare for lockdown can I take them all out. Take out the Turner then candle each of them to make sure they are still good before putting them in. Will it be too long for them to be out of the incubator ? I feel like they should be developed enough to maintain the temperature for a bit then but since my last attempt failed I am a little nervous

Thank you

 

[Ebony Rose]

You can expect the quail to hatch out a few days before the chickens. If it were me, I'd leave them on the turner until day 17... on that day, I'd place them all on 'lockdown'. It's not ideal for the quail but I've been known to forget to take quail off the turner only to wake up to peeping and cheeping babies on day 18 without ill effect. Delaying the lockdown on the quail will be better than risking the 2 dozen chicken eggs. About the time all your quail have hatched out and been moved to the brooder, your baby chicks should start pipping and zipping.

 

[ivy_huan]

You can expect the quail to hatch out a few days before the chickens. If it were me, I'd leave them on the turner until day 17... on that day, I'd place them all on 'lockdown'. It's not ideal for the quail but I've been known to forget to take quail off the turner only to wake up to peeping and cheeping babies on day 18 without ill effect. Delaying the lockdown on the quail will be better than risking the 2 dozen chicken eggs. About the time all your quail have hatched out and been moved to the brooder, your baby chicks should start pipping and zipping.

Thank you for your reply
I was debating if I should put quail eggs in 3 days later but since quails are a lot smaller than chickens i figured it's better to have them hatched out first and removed before chicken comes along

I'll lock down quails a couple of days later then

What humidity level shall I be aiming
I'm currently doing it dry. It's a bit humid here lately

 

[Ebony Rose]

I cannot help you with humidity as I live near the equator, in Panama. It is hot and HUMID all the time here, so I cannot add humidity when I incubate as my poor babies were drowning in their shell when I added humidity. I always 'dry' incubate.

 

[ivy_huan]

I cannot help you with humidity as I live near the equator, in Panama. It is hot and HUMID all the time here, so I cannot add humidity when I incubate as my poor babies were drowning in their shell when I added humidity. I always 'dry' incubate.

What's your humidity like normally ?

 

[Ebony Rose]

it's 10:40pm and 94% humidity
Edited to add: it's so humid there that sweating does not offer relief from the heat

 

[ivy_huan]

it's 10:40pm and 94% humidity
Edited to add: it's so humid there that sweating does not offer relief from the heat

i grew up in shanghai, and it was humid there in the summer, and hot

 

[ivy_huan]

You can expect the quail to hatch out a few days before the chickens. If it were me, I'd leave them on the turner until day 17... on that day, I'd place them all on 'lockdown'. It's not ideal for the quail but I've been known to forget to take quail off the turner only to wake up to peeping and cheeping babies on day 18 without ill effect. Delaying the lockdown on the quail will be better than risking the 2 dozen chicken eggs. About the time all your quail have hatched out and been moved to the brooder, your baby chicks should start pipping and zipping.

im wondering if i should just take them all out on day 15 of the turner but dont quite up the humidity yet till day 17 just in case there is any early hatcher
i havent paid much attentions on the humidity but thinking may add a little water on day 15 for quails

i cant decide...

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't hatch quail but the chicken eggs don't need to be turned after 14 days. Like Ebony Rose said about quail, it doesn't hurt to turn them, they still do OK, but chickens have gotten the benefit out of turning after 14 days. You are not risking the chicken eggs by taking them out of the turner on day 16.

Humidity is harder to talk about. It's all about how much moisture the eggs have lost and I don't know how much yours will have lost. People sometimes miscount the days and lock down chicken eggs a day early and increase humidity without causing harm. I don't know the humidity needs for quail but I'd be tempted to wait until I see a pip, hear a chirp, or see a shaking quail egg before I upped the humidity a lot. You might look at the size of the air cells of the chicken eggs when you candle on Day 16 and see how large they are. There are too many variables with humidity for me to make a blanket statement.

 

[ivy_huan]

I don't hatch quail but the chicken eggs don't need to be turned after 14 days. Like Ebony Rose said about quail, it doesn't hurt to turn them, they still do OK, but chickens have gotten the benefit out of turning after 14 days. You are not risking the chicken eggs by taking them out of the turner on day 16.

Humidity is harder to talk about. It's all about how much moisture the eggs have lost and I don't know how much yours will have lost. People sometimes miscount the days and lock down chicken eggs a day early and increase humidity without causing harm. I don't know the humidity needs for quail but I'd be tempted to wait until I see a pip, hear a chirp, or see a shaking quail egg before I upped the humidity a lot. You might look at the size of the air cells of the chicken eggs when you candle on Day 16 and see how large they are. There are too many variables with humidity for me to make a blanket statement.

Thank you for your reply
I will take out the Turner on day 16 and candle them first before up the humidity.
Right now the humidity is at 30% without any water added in the incubator.
I'm trying not to touch the eggs too much this time around and leave them till day 16.
I will report back with pictures when I candle them again

Thank you