Just candled our 12 day shipping quail eggs

[Shannon Robinson50]

Hey! So, we just got our replacement shipment from Myshire today. Our 1st ones spent 12 days in Cincinnati during the polar storm before being set in the incubator. We got to candle them today, as the candler was in the 2nd shipment. We candled as fast as possible, so couldn’t verify movement in all, but after everything, on day 11 of incubation, we had 16 infertile or didn’t develop. Out of 60 eggs. At least 10 with very obvious movement, 3 iffy ones and the rest (31) appear alive with good air sacks. Way better than anyone hoped for. There are light colored chicks and dark colored chicks inside those eggs. No cracks visible at all, even under candling. Myshirefarm.com replaced them as viability goes down after so long in shipping. Quote from Zack was ,” not too horrible”. That 41 of 60 are developing and alive at day 11 after 12 days in shipping from Ohio to California, during a polar storm with no cracked eggs at all is miraculous, to say the least. I will continue to buy all our quail from myshirefarm.com....for life! Amazing quality, amazing customer service and gorgeous birds.

all 60 of the replacements are in great shape. No obvious damage. We will candle after the6 rest 48 hour when we put into incubator on Sunday night. Too bad we will be early fir the Easter hatch off, but not risking our babies waiting.

question: we now have room in our incubator to have them go into lockdown with new eggs in there. We can remove 1/2 of the rails as they are all independen. It’s a brinsea ovation 56. We do have other incubators that we’ve borrowed, but I trust the brinsea. If we put the lockdown eggs on the floor of the incubator but leave the others hanging to one side, I think the hatching ones will be ok. Will it hurt the new eggs to be at a higher humidity for 3- 3&1/2 days? From 40-45% up to 55-60%. It will be on day 2-6 of the new eggs incubating.

 

[EmmaRainboe]

@Kiki

Here is the question part.

we now have room in our incubator to have them go into lockdown with new eggs in there. We can remove 1/2 of the rails as they are all independen. It’s a brinsea ovation 56. We do have other incubators that we’ve borrowed, but I trust the brinsea. If we put the lockdown eggs on the floor of the incubator but leave the others hanging to one side, I think the hatching ones will be ok. Will it hurt the new eggs to be at a higher humidity for 3- 3&1/2 days? From 40-45% up to 55-60%. It will be on day 2-6 of the new eggs incubating.

 

[Kiki]

@Kiki

Here is the question part.

You want to remove only some of the turning trays?

Hold.
Let me read everything real quick.

 

[Kiki]

Let me see if I've got this correct.
You have some eggs on day 11 and you are setting more eggs now.


If I were you I would not leave any of the turning devices in the incubator come hatch time for the first 11 eggs.
quail babies are dumb and they will find a way to kill themselves in the turning trays that are moving.
No doubt.



Do you have another incubator?

 

[Kiki]

Also... You do not need to raise the humidity until hatch Day. You do not have to raise it 3 days in advance.
they actually usually externally pip the day before they hatch so you can raise it one day before hatch day but you do not really need to raise it three days in advance.

Yes the other eggs will be okay with you raising the humidity a little bit for a day or two.

 

[Shannon Robinson50]

Also... You do not need to raise the humidity until hatch Day. You do not have to raise it 3 days in advance.
they actually usually externally pip the day before they hatch so you can raise it one day before hatch day but you do not really need to raise it three days in advance.

Yes the other eggs will be okay with you raising the humidity a little bit for a day or two.

Let me see if I've got this correct.
You have some eggs on day 11 and you are setting more eggs now.


If I were you I would not leave any of the turning devices in the incubator come hatch time for the first 11 eggs.
quail babies are dumb and they will find a way to kill themselves in the turning trays that are moving.
No doubt.



Do you have another incubator?

I do have another incubator, but it fluctuates up to 1.5 degrees f.

 

[Shannon Robinson50]

We set the eggs from shipment one at 9 pm on monday feb 22. It’s 11 pm on the 5th so we are now day 12. The eggs from shipment 2 arrived home at 5 pm today, so will sit and rest until we set them at 5 pm on Sunday the 7th. If we put egg shipment one into lockdown on the 9th at 9 pm, at the start of day 16, shipment 2 is on day day 3. The the first shipment moves to the brooder on day 19 at 9pm on the 12th, assuming everyone is dry. ( please understand that this is my daughters project. She is 17, highly intelligent, and happens to be autistic, so details matter.

 

[Shannon Robinson50]

Yes we have another incubator that we borrowed, but it has temperature fluctuations of 1.5 degrees. And humidity is harder to keep constant.

 

[Shannon Robinson50]

The paperwork that arrived with the eggs says higher humidity for the entire lockdown period. Did I mention autistic?

 

[Shannon Robinson50]

I can fashion a divider at the edge of where the turner rails. It almost in the middle of the incubator. We never expected to have so many developing eggs come through from the first shipment. If it was only a few, they would go into the smaller brinsea for lockdown, but it only holds a dozen or so, not 40+.