Low hatch rate--fertility problem?

[Rose Shenk]

Hi everyone,
I'm new to this forum. I am raising quail for meat and eggs and am running into problems getting my eggs to hatch. I've done a lot of research and I think I am doing everything well in regards to collecting and storing the eggs. I'm using an incubator with a fan kit and an egg turner. I've tried both high and low humidity with the same results. My hatch rate is 50% or lower. I'm wondering if it might be a fertility issue? How do you tell? I don't know much about the birds I bought, since I got them from someone who bought them somewhere else. They are celedon coturnix quail, the blue egg quail. They lay well and are healthy birds. They are 5 months old. Thanks for any advice or suggestions you have!

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Are you candling? If they're not developing at all, likely a fertility issue. If they are and then quitting early on, it's likely more at play. I have something wrong with my males, that any eggs fertilized by my 2 celadon failed at about day 7.

 

[Nabiki]

Are you trusting your incubator's readings? Those are notorious for not being accurate. Here are some basic incubation tips for coturnix quail.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/coturnix-incubation-tips.76184/

Candle at about day 5. If they're fertile, you should be seeing development by then.

 

[Darius123]

Fertility comes in play if your embrio does not form, or if it dies quite early in the developing stages(there may be for example vitamine deficiency). If a chick dies later in the developing process, that s a questionable. If you really want to find you, buy 10 or so eggs from a breeder and see the results, if you still have low hatch rate with those, its probably the incubator, or you are doing something wrong.