My First Quail

[ChaosDog]

Since I found the float test inconclusive, I attempted candling again and only one had a shadow of a chick, which i left in the incubator [though it may be bad anyway], others I couldn't tell.

I ended up taking out 9 eggs and I opened them up, all 9 were infertile, or otherwise had no visible development

 

[ChaosDog]

Opened up the rest of the eggs today.

3 more were infertile/showed no development, 1 was early death, 1 was late death, 1 was fully formed death. the fully formed had absorbed it's yolk, but never pipped.

Final Tally:

Infertile/No visible development: 14
Early Death: 1
Late death: 1
Fully formed death: 2
Hatches: 2

 

[AClassicalLife]

I am so sorry the majority of your eggs failed in such a way. Perhaps the supplier might be helpful about it? Generally not the case with shipped eggs (chickens anyway, I'm new to the quail area) but maybe it would be worth a try. Good thing they sent extra and that you have two little chicks that made it!

 

[Little-Farmer]

So sorry chaos dog. We ended up with 12, 2 died after birth. The 12 are thriving and growing crazy fast.

I didn't know to leave the eggs in for a long period of time and never thought about the float test. I'm pretty sure we would have seen life in them when we opened them if they had still been alive.

How can you tell if the are even fertilized if there is not growth at all? They were all guaranteed fertilization. So how do you know?

I chatted online with the hatchery. I had a hard time getting them to respond to me. They assume no resposability for the low hatch rate. I don't blame them as it is very cold up north and shipping is iffy this time of year. I'd like to get more eggs but I'm not sure where to get them from.

How are your two chicks doing now?

 

[ChaosDog]

So sorry chaos dog. We ended up with 12, 2 died after birth. The 12 are thriving and growing crazy fast.

I didn't know to leave the eggs in for a long period of time and never thought about the float test. I'm pretty sure we would have seen life in them when we opened them if they had still been alive.

How can you tell if the are even fertilized if there is not growth at all? They were all guaranteed fertilization. So how do you know?

I chatted online with the hatchery. I had a hard time getting them to respond to me. They assume no resposability for the low hatch rate. I don't blame them as it is very cold up north and shipping is iffy this time of year. I'd like to get more eggs but I'm not sure where to get them from.

How are your two chicks doing now?

I dont blame the hatchery at all, theres so many things that could cause a hatch to go wrong, maybe someone dropped the box during shipment, who knows.

I dont know if they were infertile, so i group them as either infertile or no visible development. The only way i know how to tell if an egg is fertle is by opening it up, and only works if theyre fresh. After sitting in roughly 98 (my incubator was set to 37.7C) degrees for three weeks, the yolks were goopy so it was impossible to tell if the eggs were viable at all or not.
Since i only ended up with two, i will definately need to purchase eggs again, and i will be looking for local sources,as the climate is mild here, rather than a frigid winter, and to reduce handling.

I dont blame anyone, it just happens. Unfortunate.

All that aside, my two chicks,are doing very well! Theyre both growing like weeds! Its crazy how fast they grow.

Sorry about your losses, but glad you have a bunch that are thriving!

 

[AClassicalLife]

Did any of you guys use James Marie Farms? I've seen a lot of good things about them and their shipping methods in a few different threads on BYC. And they are NPIP.

 

[ChaosDog]

My two babies, Pop&Rock, 10 days old -- Right now the only way to tell them apart is size. Pop is slightly bigger and hatched a few hours before Rock.

 

[Little-Farmer]

I've been looking for a southern hatchery! Thanks Aclassicallife. I'm going to give them a try. With twelve babies, I'm can only assume that I have around 6 females so I'm going to shoot for 20 more birds in hopes I get 10 more females. 15 eggs a day might possible feed our family each day.

 

[AClassicalLife]

I would love to hear what you think of them. I am considering getting eggs from them for us as well. Supposedly their Jumbo varieties are substantially and consistently larger than others, and produce a much bigger egg, which is interesting. But they also have some very pretty special varieties. I'm having a hard time deciding what I want.

 

[ChaosDog]

Day 12, both appear to have specked breasts. Two hens! Having only gotten two, that's the best outcome I could have hoped for! I will be getting more eggs or chicks, but I don't have to rush since there won't be any breeding competition.