Incubating Coturnix Quail Eggs

[NewhAtch3r]

108 is kinda high but mine has gone up to 105 and I caught it had a 49 percent hatch rate.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/coturnix-quail-egg-candling-guide

There's a great link just make sure you can't see threw egg at day 13 or 14 and you can go into locklock down you will.be able to see air cells if you killed eggs and thete only viewing now they won't devoloping to that point. I'm new to this too put I hatched 14 out of 30 with my homemade Bator so I'm here to help good luck let me know either way.

 

[NewhAtch3r]

Quote:

look at my previous post don't worry 2 much about the 108 cause if you just opened incubator u cooled the eggs and if only 2 hours passed most likely you will be fine. get a ir laser thermometer to temp the actual egg that helped me.

 

[deviled]

You should be fine i did the same thing mine stayed at 108 for over 4 hours.and i had 50 eggs and got 40 hatched....get a digital humidity and tempt thermostate at Wal-Mart there great and so much easier to see.my air flow electric incubator with turner is to tiny for me to read.HAPPY HATCHING

 

[NewhAtch3r]

Heres my little story line of hatching and my homemade Stuff




Incubator setup




Thermostat 110v wired to light bulb ( do not attempt unless you know what your doing.)



candling in a dark room with air cell.




Pre Brooder setup





Pen setup




Little guys




Homemade feeder.



Homemade watering system.




Happy hatching please make sure you are ready for little guys.

 

[NewQuailLady]

Thanks everyone for the replies. It makes me feel a bit better. I actually have 2 digital thermometer/humidity gauges in there. The temp is about 1/2 a degree off from each other. So I figure as long as both are around the 100-101 mark, then chances are the temp is good.

Laser thermometer sounds like a good idea.
I had originally purchased 20 quail at 3 days old early last summer and kept all of them alive until I realized I had 9 males and 11 females (4 smallest males became dinner

). So if I can get these 4 to successfully hatch, once I get them into their brooder, I feel relatively confident I can raise them.

 

[NewQuailLady]

Heres my little story line of hatching and my homemade Stuff




Incubator setup




Thermostat 110v wired to light bulb ( do not attempt unless you know what your doing.)



candling in a dark room with air cell.




Pre Brooder setup





Pen setup




Little guys




Homemade feeder.



Homemade watering system.




Happy hatching please make sure you are ready for little guys.

Two questions:
1 - Is that a ketchup bottle with a plastic hose as the waterer in the brooder? If so, that's ingenious!

2 - I like the pen set-up. I want them to be off the ground this time. I am short 5'2, and one of my dogs if he stands on his back feet is about as tall as me. If I were to go with a set-up similar to yours, because of my height, I can't have it too far off the ground. I am going to try to fence off a portion of my yard so that my dogs can't get to them, but should they get into the fence, how easy do you think this for them to bite or claw through the wire mesh? I have 1/2 inch wire mesh that I was going to use.

 

[NewhAtch3r]

Two questions:
1 - Is that a ketchup bottle with a plastic hose as the waterer in the brooder? If so, that's ingenious!

2 - I like the pen set-up. I want them to be off the ground this time. I am short 5'2, and one of my dogs if he stands on his back feet is about as tall as me. If I were to go with a set-up similar to yours, because of my height, I can't have it too far off the ground. I am going to try to fence off a portion of my yard so that my dogs can't get to them, but should they get into the fence, how easy do you think this for them to bite or claw through the wire mesh? I have 1/2 inch wire mesh that I was going to use.

1 salad dressing container with regular tubing I used heat gun just a little to make it be able to stuck threw hole(the water tray is a recycled grease catcher for one of those chef master flat electric griddles) I'll post a tutorial cause it took me a couple days to find right stuff.

2. This was a pen that I plan on being able to insert into a larger unit that also lock down at night. The unit will hold 2 or 3 of these pens hopefully. With a roof to keep them dry. I think best bet for a small flock maybe under deck with artifical lighting to produce eggs don't get discouraged I have a strong construction back round and access to many tools and free leftover materials to build this stuff myself I think I actally only paid like 50 or 60 bucks for everything. Coyotes and racoon and skunk be worst enemy. To really answer question it can be done but it would take some time.

 

[suire67]

Incubation of eggs

*Incubation period is 16-17 days but can go as long as 18 days (almost all of mine hatched at 18 days...so i plan my hatches around 18 days just to be safe)

*Turn eggs atleast 3 times a day

*Stop turning atleast 4 days before eggs are due to hatch

*Every quail breeder has their own humidity and temp preferences....I keep the temps in between 99.5F and 101F...however I try to keep it at 99.5 Fas much as I can. (in my new incubator *a cabinet* I now keep it at 100.6 and I still have gorgeous hatches) Humidity I keep in the 40s until the last four days of incubation where i up it to 60%


It's best to have a towel or  a kitchen mat or something similar that the eggs can lay on in the incubator so that when the chicks hatch they dont get their legs stuck in the tiny wire....as their feet are so tiny they will fall through.

 

[suire67]

Is there A time limit for the fertile eggs to be put in the incubator, from the time of laying.

 

[DK newbie]

In general, people say 10 days for quail eggs. I think fertility starts dropping after 7 days but you might be lucky and have some hatch even if they are 14 days old, just not as many as with fresh eggs.