Incubating Coturnix Quail Eggs

[Quail Jailer]

I read somewhere you don't count the first day the eggs are in the incubator. Is this true? Starting to get worried . My jumbo eggs are on day 19 and still no movement. Should I consider them toast or is there still hope?

if I put eggs in at 1 pm monday at 1 pm tuesday that is one day1 pm wednesday two days...

And since you are already in this far I'd let them rock for another 48-72 hours if NOTHING happens by then, it's probably not going to.

 

[BuddyB]

Thanks for the input. So excited was starting to think I had killed the suckers. 2 just popped out, woohooo

 

[Quail Jailer]

Heh...congrats

 

[zayd]

Its has been today 21 day my coturnix didnt hatch i dnt knw Y?? normally i knw that at about 18 days but ny hadnt hatch yet when i candle the eggs i can see a very dark side light cannot pass through its the chick but not hatching help plzz

 

[salsan20]

My first hatch everything was off and the first hatched late on day 22 and the 4th and final hatched day 25, all had a mild deformity though from the issues. Dont give up though, certainly the deformed feet were easy to correct.

 

[BuddyB]

Yah mine were 22-23 days helped the last one like a dummy and it died two weeks later only had 4 dead in their shells though, got lucky I guess

 

[RumAndCoconuts]

I'm quite pleased with my first hatch. These eggs are NOT local! LOL. I got them from a fellow in Vancouver, 24 eggs. They were brought through airport X-rays a couple of times, dealt with air pressure changes, turbulence, temperature changes etc all the way down to my wee island here in the Bahamas. And number 23 just pulled out of it's shell. I'm floored.
So darned cute!

 

[spotsplus]

I just ordered 4 dozen quail eggs and I need to know some info one them. I know that they only take 17 days to hatch, and to stop turning them at 14 days. What about the temp. and humidity?

I have a very informative ebook out on hatching quail that is available through Amazon for only $2.99 if you'd be interested. Many copies have already been sold worldwide Link is in my signature

 

[Sill]

I'm quite pleased with my first hatch. These eggs are NOT local! LOL. I got them from a fellow in Vancouver, 24 eggs. They were brought through airport X-rays a couple of times, dealt with air pressure changes, turbulence, temperature changes etc all the way down to my wee island here in the Bahamas. And number 23 just pulled out of it's shell. I'm floored.
So darned cute!

Congrats on getting such a good hatch on these eggs! Typically you can expect a 50% hatch on shipped eggs, but that is through the mail. I take it you carried these eggs through the trip? Have fun raising your new brood.

 

[SunnyCO]

HELP! I ordered 12 Bobwhite eggs (received 18 total and two had cracks so I laid in 16) when one of my hens went broody and I didn't really want any more chickens but my friend wanted some quail for his property. I thought, ok, we'll give it a go and see what happens. What happened was between when the eggs shipped and before they arrived, the hen decided she didn't want to lay on the nest after all, GREAT! I thought about eating the eggs, but they came so carefully and perfectly packaged I couldn't do it. I don't have a incubator so I looked at some DIY stuff here and other places on the web and built my own. Large cardboard box, heat lamp, bowl with sponge, backing dish covered in wire with a piece of landscape material to keep anything from falling through the holes, a remote thermometer with RH detector tied to a console with high/low temp alarms and all covered with a large, empty picture frame . We're all set, let's hatch some quail eggs...yeah!

We live in Colorado, where the RH rarely gets above 50% and tends to be closer to 20% most of the time. The RH in the box wouldn't go above 10%, so I went and bought a desk top, mini humidifier ($14.95) and can get the humidity up to about 50%, but I can't run it all the time because it brings the temp in the box down. I thought about giving up and then yesterday, day 14, (yes, I laid them in on April Fools day) I candled them to see if I could shut the whole operation down knowing I had tried. Out of the 16 eggs I have 7 with strong veining and lots of movement, I have 4 that are questionable and 5 that I'm pretty sure I can remove, but leave in there because they're not hurting anything and you never know.

So I can't give up, but I need some help on what I can do about the humidity. Can I mist the eggs with warm water in a spray bottle to keep them moist? Can I lay them on a moist towel? I don't want to go to the 24 days and them have them stick to the shells and die because they can't get out.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Karen