My First Quail

[ChaosDog]

Alright, that one that pipped yesterday morning, after about 32 hours, I decided to attempt an assisted hatch after hours of contemplation.
What triggered this decision is when I inspected the pip, i noticed the membrane was still covering the opening. this chick had pipped on the wrong end of the egg and wasn't able to get any air, and couldn't get through the outer membrane, which dried more quickly when it was exposed there.
So I am saddened to say that this chick did not make it, probably passed several hours ago, as it had not entirely absorbed its yolk.

I feel a bit sick from it at the moment, and trying to tell myself that it isn't my fault, but i'm honestly not too sure that it isn't, since I know that there have been successful hatches of chicks that pipped on the small end of the egg.

I made sure to take this egg out quickly, and I upped the humidity a little bit more, in case that was the issue.

 

[clawstar]

I'm sorry, I hope you get lots of strong chicks tho!

 

[Little-Farmer]

I can't say this from experience but I read that if they pip from the wrong end, you need to help them out...

We lost one in the egg that pipped today. It got its beak out but then stopped moving. After a few hours, the membrane around the hole turned brown. We waited a few more hours and then decided to investigate. The membrane was around him with blood vessels. I Don't know what that means but he managed to make the hole so he was alive until almost hatching...

We also lost a bird today. He was docile from the beginning. Maybe I should have pulled him out and tried to give him water in case he was dehydrated but I keep reading to leave them in the incubator and my heater brood box was filled with thriving birds that probably would have pecked him to death so I opted to leave him alone. It didn't turn out the best.

I'm going to order more eggs tomorrow because we didn't get the hatch we needed. It may be partly our fault but I wonder if it has some to do with getting eggs up north during the winter. I'm going to try to find a hatchery in the south, preferably Florida, that has jumbo coturnix.

 

[ChaosDog]

I can't say this from experience but I read that if they pip from the wrong end, you need to help them out...

We lost one in the egg that pipped today. It got its beak out but then stopped moving. After a few hours, the membrane around the hole turned brown. We waited a few more hours and then decided to investigate. The membrane was around him with blood vessels. I Don't know what that means but he managed to make the hole so he was alive until almost hatching...

We also lost a bird today. He was docile from the beginning. Maybe I should have pulled him out and tried to give him water in case he was dehydrated but I keep reading to leave them in the incubator and my heater brood box was filled with thriving birds that probably would have pecked him to death so I opted to leave him alone. It didn't turn out the best.

I'm going to order more eggs tomorrow because we didn't get the hatch we needed. It may be partly our fault but I wonder if it has some to do with getting eggs up north during the winter. I'm going to try to find a hatchery in the south, preferably Florida, that has jumbo coturnix.

Oh dear, sorry to hear it :c hope your others are doing well though
I read a lot of mixed reviews on pipping on the wrong end, on some you need to help, on others you don't. So I gambled and lost, i guess.
I still have a few days for my remaining eggs, but I am prepared to order more if I need.
If you find a good hatchery in Florida, let me know, I wasn't able to find one, but maybe I was looking in the wrong place.

 

[ChaosDog]

The two chicks are still doing well, but no visible signs or changes of the rest of the eggs.

 

[Little-Farmer]

Oh my! How many do you have now? Where did you get your eggs from?

I bought mine from purely poultry. they were very helpful the first time around, but I didn't get much help today when i live chatted with them. I'm trying to learn the shipping system for "live animals" and how important it is for the eggs to be in a climate controlled transition. I'm wondering how much that had to do with my low hatch rate or if it was just me, not knowing entirely what I was doing... I just wanted to eliminate some of the mishaps before I try again. Otherwise, these could be some expensive little birds!

 

[ChaosDog]

Oh my! How many do you have now? Where did you get your eggs from?

I bought mine from purely poultry. they were very helpful the first time around, but I didn't get much help today when i live chatted with them. I'm trying to learn the shipping system for "live animals" and how important it is for the eggs to be in a climate controlled transition. I'm wondering how much that had to do with my low hatch rate or if it was just me, not knowing entirely what I was doing... I just wanted to eliminate some of the mishaps before I try again. Otherwise, these could be some expensive little birds!

I'm still only at two chicks total, this is my first hatch, so i have no adult birds.

I ordered form purely poultry as well. It could just be the climate change, the time of the year, process of being shipped, or something. there's so many factors that could effect the outcome. They packed the eggs well and included extras, so I don't fault them, as they did their part well, I don't know that I'd order from them again though-- at least in the cooler months, ONLY so I can try to order the eggs locally to reduce the stress of shipping periods and climate change. It is a bit far and the eggs are fragile.

 

[ChaosDog]

At day 21 and still no apparent signs from the remaining 16 eggs. At what point do I consider them all a loss and open them up to see what went wrong? I have read that it's possible for them to hatch several days late, but I don't know how much longer I should give them.

The good news is the two that did make it out are still going strong.

 

[clawstar]

Good for those two!!! I hope you find out what's wrong!

 

[ChaosDog]

Today I did a float test, only one of them sank. I'd read how to do it, but since i'd not done it before, i wasn't sure what to look for, as far as how high up means bad. But that's pretty terrible if 15 more out of 20 were developing but none made it....I wasn't sure so I put them back in the incubator, but I'm sure at this point, the remaining eggs are gone.

Last night was panic-inducing, since the power had gone out. I have no backup heat or anything so i resorted to holding the two chicks in my hands, occasionally putting them down in the brooder for food/water/poops. It was only out for about 45 minutes, but I didn't know how long it was going to be out, or how long it would take for the brooder to cool off. I don't know how long it would take them to get too cold, but I didn't want to take any chances. It was dark, so they went to sleep fairly quickly.