Lockdown tommorrow-Any tips

[chefchick]

They are blue on the inside, which explains why you see greenish/blue... but is that the whole egg or just the air cell that you see that color? If it's the whole egg, they weren't fertile, they should be full of baby quail by now. when you candle them look carefully around the bottom of the air cell. You should see them pecking at the air cell to break through if they haven't already. In that case, you would hear tapping and/or peeping. I hope you get some to hatch!

 

[James the Bald]

Day 19, This morning was disappointing, no change, not much movement and I'm getting worried because tommorow morning until thursday I won't be here. I felt the eggs and found around 6 more that were very light and not as dense as the others. Water tested they indeed floated up almost completely to the surface. Opened them, and they were completely dried.

We had many temp spikes early on and I wonder if we cooked these poor little eggies. Yet the other eggs seem so much denser and heavier. One even flipped over in my hand.

My husband thinks I'm crazy when I tell him they move....but I swear to you I'm 150% certain that little eggy moved.

Please, tell me what you do at this point. So disappointed

Let mother nature take its course. My daughter, my wife and I have all seen 2 particular eggs “move” in the days prior to hatching. Those eggs hatched on day 20… one early in the morning, the other, later on that night. The other 11 fell victim to the "mail man". WHEN your eggs hatch (note the positive reinforcement), the chicks will be OK in the incubator, from what others have said here, they can go 24 – 48 hours without nourishment… they are still absorbing the yoke.

Someone please correct me if I am wrong.

 

[TwoCrows]

Nicole, not meaning to get your hopes up and then make them fall, but day 19 is still within the realm of a good hatch. Now if you were on day 22 or 23, then I would say get the kleenex ready. But day 19 is still a good day.

 

[NicoleRook]

Well, it's official, something smelled real funky last night. Started slowly one by one opening and all were underdeveloped and by the smell very dead for a bit of time. One had managed to develop and died.

 

[dc3085]

Don't get discouraged. My very first run of 50 eggs yielded two chicks and one was a runt. My second run of 50 I had 9 hatch. These days I get 40 out 50 from my own eggs give or take a few. The biggest difference i made to improve my hatch rate was a GQF wafer thermostat to help maintain constant temperature. My first run i had many temperature and humidity spikes from using a drilled water heater thermostat which let the temp change more than 2 degrees. The GQF doesn't even change a whole degree.

other things to keep in mind, not all of these apply to your questions but its good stuff to know

check the temp and humidity with multiple thermometers/hydgrometers to ensure that they are accurate

whenever you must open the lid during lock down adding a few table spoons of very warm (nearly hot) tap water will help you not lose humidity. (It's a hard one to swallow when a chick gets shrink wrapped because you did something dumb with the bator lid)

stop handling the eggs. I set the eggs and the next time i touch them is day 8 IF i candle. Most times i only touch the eggs to remove them from the auto turner. even your skin oil can clog the pores the eggs use to receive oxygen. also make sure the eggs dont get washed.

Eggs that arent shipped will have a better hatch rate, so if you can find somewhere you can drive and pick up fresh eggs next time try that. (eggs I order from ebay hatch about 60-70% eggs from my quail are over 90%)

Keep it up and your effort will be rewarded with lots of chirping pooping little fuzzies

 

[dc3085]

I wouldn't let a fully hatched chick go more than 24 hours and I usually only leave the weak ones in there any longer than 6-12 hours. I have left chicks in the bator for 24 hours with no real problems though. I don't know if I would let them go any longer though.

 

[chefchick]

Sorry to hear it Nicole. I would be happy to send you some eggs for just the price of shipping. If you want some, pm me your address. I dont know what you were hatching, but mine ar ejumbo brown coturnix. I only have 6 adult females right now, but I am happy to share whatever eggs I get throughout the week.

 

[GrandmaBird]

Sorry to hear it Nicole. I would be happy to send you some eggs for just the price of shipping. If you want some, pm me your address. I dont know what you were hatching, but mine ar ejumbo brown coturnix. I only have 6 adult females right now, but I am happy to share whatever eggs I get throughout the week.

I hope you mean you have one male and six females...or you would be shipping infertile eggs...lol

 

[TwoCrows]

Well, it's official, something smelled real funky last night. Started slowly one by one opening and all were underdeveloped and by the smell very dead for a bit of time. One had managed to develop and died.

Nicole, if they died early on in the incubation, you probably had a temp or humidity issue. More likely a temp issue. The chicks either boiled to death, or they chilled to death. On your next batch, make sure to use 2 GOOD thermometers that both read identical. You want to hold your temp steady at 99.5 to 99.8 for forced air incubators and 99.9 to 100.5, 101 maximum, for still air incubators. Fans running all the time. Make SURE your vents are open and working properly so the embryo's are not oxygen starved. Humidity levels are not as critical during incubation as they are after lock down, but you should have incubated with humidity of 50% to 55%. So sorry for the losses.

 

[TwoCrows]

Well, it's official, something smelled real funky last night. Started slowly one by one opening and all were underdeveloped and by the smell very dead for a bit of time. One had managed to develop and died.

Nicole....Also, make sure you are storing your eggs properly before incubation. If these are shipped eggs, they need to be set out on the counter for 24 hours, pointy side down, to allow the air bubbles to settle from shipping, and to allow the eggs to come to room temp.

If these are your own collected eggs, make sure they are stored properly as well, in the same manner, for no more than 10 days.