Incubation

[almanquail]

Ok so just to make clear before I go and do anything, today is day 15 of incubation. I need to take the egg turner out and increase the humidity to 65%. And I don’t need to do anything else?

Yes, remove the egg turner, increase humidity and prepare your brooder. at the lockdown stage the chicks will continue to absorb the yolk which will provide them with nutrients after the hatch.

 

[danalovesdogs]

Good luck with your hatch! Sounds like you’re on the right track. You can candle them if you’re curious to see who’s developing but it’s not a requirement. Just remember not to open the incubator once lockdown has started!

 

[almanquail]

Any egg pips?

 

[bpoore04]

Any egg pips?

No not yet

 

[Phunktacular]

I am curious how your hatch turned out. What type of incubator are you using and how many eggs did you have in it? I understand that if your eggs are hatching before day 18, your incubator temp may be too high.

I have built my own incubator out of a commercial beverage fridge with very cheap equipment ($2.50 clearance heater from Wal-Mart, $4 donut usb humidifier off amazon and a $25 controller for both Temp/Humidity, also off amazon) and it is working awesome. I think I have a total of about $35-$40 into it. I only candle my eggs on lockdown (day 15) but, they don't hatch until day 18. Last weeks hatch had 6 viable eggs after candling and all 6 hatched on day 18. This next batch went into lockdown yesterday and I had 8 viable out of 11 being incubated. I'm certainly hoping that all 8 hatch, as well.

 

[Kessdayton]

I’m hatching more quail eggs and I kinda forgot, do u start turning them 48 hours after starting incubation? 24 hours? 72? Or right away?

 

[bpoore04]

I am curious how your hatch turned out. What type of incubator are you using and how many eggs did you have in it? I understand that if your eggs are hatching before day 18, your incubator temp may be too high.

I have built my own incubator out of a commercial beverage fridge with very cheap equipment ($2.50 clearance heater from Wal-Mart, $4 donut usb humidifier off amazon and a $25 controller for both Temp/Humidity, also off amazon) and it is working awesome. I think I have a total of about $35-$40 into it. I only candle my eggs on lockdown (day 15) but, they don't hatch until day 18. Last weeks hatch had 6 viable eggs after candling and all 6 hatched on day 18. This next batch went into lockdown yesterday and I had 8 viable out of 11 being incubated. I'm certainly hoping that all 8 hatch, as well.

We actually didn’t have any hatch but I’m not surprised. This was our first time trying to incubate and we didn’t really know what we were doing. As far as the kind of incubator, I’m not sure. We got it at our local farmers co-op. We had around 40 eggs in it but they had sat outside with the quail for days before we put them in the incubator.

 

[Phunktacular]

I’m hatching more quail eggs and I kinda forgot, do u start turning them 48 hours after starting incubation? 24 hours? 72? Or right away?

Once you put them into incubation, you begin turning them immediately. If you do not have an automatic turner, you need to turn them by hand every 4-6 hours. I would advise the automatic turner. Worth it's weight in gold, if you ask me. My home made incubator is still using the turner for a foam incubator but, just on a top shelf.

 

[bpoore04]

So I know I started this thread a while ago but I was wondering if you guys could help me out again. We have kept putting eggs in the incubator and one hatched about two days ago. It is all dried out and is trying to walk around but it keeps its legs splayed out and can’t walk properly. We think that both of its legs might be broken and we don’t think it will make it. Is there anything we can do to give it the best chance at survival? This is the best picture I could get. Both of its legs are like this on both sides. It just keeps hopping around sort of.

 

[Nabiki]

Just out of curiosity, what kind of surface do you have in there? It looks smooth, which doesn't help the chicks. It helps if you have some sort of grippy surface. I use paper towels, but there are other options that I'm sure someone will suggest.