Incubation issues - please advise!

[windsweptstina]

Hi Folks

I'm new to quail... Have 12 of approx 10 weeks old which I hatched. They are great wee birds and give me a lot of pleasure, and a great return in terms of eggs.

They are in an aviary approx 8 ft x 3.5 ft x 8 ft high, with a 3.5 ft square sheltered area in addition. They have an open rabbit hutch they go in and out of, as well as their shelter with nest boxes, with horse bedding and straw. Their aviary has peat turf and foliage, along with logs, branches & twigs to make it natural for them, along with a large sand pit (and paddling pool in hot weather). They feed from my hands and have no fear or desire to escape, even from my toddler son!

I opted to add to my flock, and thought californian would be good as they'd use the airspace and perches. I also bought some Chinese painted quail eggs to hatch alongside...

... Stuck them in incubator tonight then did the research... Not like me at all to be so disorganised.

Turns out CPQ take 16 days to incubate, CQ take 23.

How would you play it to minimise the damage?

Thanks in advance, Cristina

 

[veggiecanner]

what your supposed to do is place the eggs in you incubator so their lock down day is the same day
That way they all hatch on the same day.
Not sure what to do if you take some out, they may have started so they might die now.

 

[James the Bald]

Hi Folks

I'm new to quail... Have 12 of approx 10 weeks old which I hatched. They are great wee birds and give me a lot of pleasure, and a great return in terms of eggs.

They are in an aviary approx 8 ft x 3.5 ft x 8 ft high, with a 3.5 ft square sheltered area in addition. They have an open rabbit hutch they go in and out of, as well as their shelter with nest boxes, with horse bedding and straw. Their aviary has peat turf and foliage, along with logs, branches & twigs to make it natural for them, along with a large sand pit (and paddling pool in hot weather). They feed from my hands and have no fear or desire to escape, even from my toddler son!

I opted to add to my flock, and thought californian would be good as they'd use the airspace and perches. I also bought some Chinese painted quail eggs to hatch alongside...

... Stuck them in incubator tonight then did the research... Not like me at all to be so disorganised.

Turns out CPQ take 16 days to incubate, CQ take 23.

How would you play it to minimise the damage?

Thanks in advance, Cristina

Windswept, this can be a learning experience, and it can still have a happy ending; here is what I would recommend: You didn't mention what "day" you are currently on and how many eggs of each you are incubating. If you do not have an automatic egg turner, there is really no issue to worry about. When the CPQ start to hatch, after 18 - 24 hours, carefullly open the incubator and collect up the chicks and place them into your brooder. Then allow the remaining eggs to continue until their hatch.
If you do have an egg turner, it can add some steps to the process, so bear with me. If you have access to hardware cloth, you can make a small barricade that is high enough to keep the chicks from climbing into the egg turner. I'm not sure if this is close, but the barricade should be 3 - 4 inches high. When you get to lockdown with the CPQ, remove the egg turner and remove all the eggs, and place them back into the incubator, with CPQ on one side and CQ on the other. Close the lid to the incubator to keep the humidity and temperature levels OK. This will have to be done as quickly and carefully as possible. With the egg turner removed, remove some of the quail rails and place the barricade inside of the cavity that is created from the removal of the quail rails. Then, open the incubator and as carefullly as possible, place the CQ eggs back into the turner, place the CPQ eggs inside the hardware cloth barricade, place the egg turner into the incubator. The same procedures apply when the CPQ start to hatch.... collect them up and allow the CQ eggs to continue until lockdown.
This may sound confusing. I really do hope things have a happy ending here.
James
Edited to add... I really do hope that you kept the eggs separated inside the incubator.... that could be a problem that I didn't think of.

 

[windsweptstina]

Thank you both for your responses.

I'll give it a go and hope for the best...

James - there are 21 Californian and 24 Chinese Painted. They are currently separated into two batches at either side of the incubator, so easy to keep apart and barricade.

The incubator has a cradle which turns whole unit rather than an actual egg turner. Cradle is unfortunately having to be replaced (new one will be here by weekend) - the joys of eBay buying. At the moment I am manually turning them. They were put in the incubator at 5 pm last night, so 14 hours ago.

So, should I go ahead with lock down on day 14? Make removal of CPQ chicks as quick (and as few times) as possible and then start turning again once majority hatch? Then lock down again on day 20?

I very much appreciate your advice.

It's a steep learning curve and I had hoped not to make a mistake of this scale! I stupidly made the assumption that all quails had similar hatching period!

Cristina

 

[buttonquailtx]

I wouldn't put the California Quail eggs in lock down that early. It will decrease your hatch rate.

The biggest issue with opening an incubator during this time is humidity. I keep a spray bottle of distilled water near my incubator. If I have to open the incubator during lock down; I carefully mist one of the inside walls of the incubator before closing it. This helps raise the humidity back up quickly. Make sure not to get the eggs wet.

I would turn the California Quail eggs by hand twice a day from day 14 until the Button Quail hatch. It shouldn't hurt if you miss turning the California Quail eggs on the day the buttons hatch.

Use a barrier as suggested above to keep the Button chicks from disturbing the other eggs.

Best of luck!

 

[James the Bald]

Thank you both for your responses.

I'll give it a go and hope for the best...

James - there are 21 Californian and 24 Chinese Painted. They are currently separated into two batches at either side of the incubator, so easy to keep apart and barricade.

The incubator has a cradle which turns whole unit rather than an actual egg turner. Cradle is unfortunately having to be replaced (new one will be here by weekend) - the joys of eBay buying. At the moment I am manually turning them. They were put in the incubator at 5 pm last night, so 14 hours ago.

So, should I go ahead with lock down on day 14? Make removal of CPQ chicks as quick (and as few times) as possible and then start turning again once majority hatch? Then lock down again on day 20?

I very much appreciate your advice.

It's a steep learning curve and I had hoped not to make a mistake of this scale! I stupidly made the assumption that all quails had similar hatching period!

Cristina

AHHHHH!!! I overlooked the humidity associated with the lockdown. This is going to be really difficult because you are hand turning your eggs. The only thing I can recommend is to try to open the incubator as quickly as possible to turn 24 eggs.

The downside is that the increased humidity may effect the embryo development of the CPX... it's not a few days, it's a full week. That's not good, but this is the best advice that I can provide. I really do hope that things end up OK.

 

[veggiecanner]

I am finding myself with a simalar problem.
I set my incubator 4 days age and now I find I have a batch of eggs that will get here Saturday.
We may be able to get a borrowed incubator, that will solve the problem. If not not sure if we can do any thing about it. but to gamble on incubating them together. My plan is to put dividers in and drape a warm wet cloth over the oldest eggs while I hand turn the newest ones.
We'll see how that works.

 

[windsweptstina]

Thanks again guys!

Next question... I don't have to turn the eggs manually, the cradle should be here very soon (and if its not the incubator is designed so there are three different positions it can sit on). So, am I best to carry on rotating while the early eggs are hatching, if the chicks have plenty space to stabilise themselves?

I much appreciate your time and expertise! C

 

[windsweptstina]

Well, I failed! I managed to hatch 19 Chinese painted quail (first expected) and then only one Californian. I think it was more to do with lack of turning than humidity, as I was careful with the latter, but struggled to turn with the teeny CPQ inside.

Of those chicks, I'm down to 13 - they are crazy, suicidal creatures who loved to soak themselves in water (despite it being virtually impossible for them to get into it). I also had a crick neck who died - natural selection I guess. Not a very successful hatch at all, after my success last time, but I won't be put off... Just need to concentrate on what I'm incubating right now - I'm expecting a baby any time!

Will try Californians again later in year...

Thanks for advice... Lesson learnt!

Cristina