- Mar 24, 2012
- 28
- 46
- 119
Long story short I have 2 issues. I am new to quail and have cortunix. I need advise and help to find out were I am going wrong here. I do not want to keep killing chicks before they get out of the egg!
Problem #1: Hatch rates in my incubator are low and chicks are dyeing in their shells fully formed. It is a little giant still air incubator with an aftermarket fan making it a forced air incubator. temp is set to 99F and fluctuates between 99 and 100.4F. I have a little giant egg turner with quail rails. I do have a old school thermometer inside the incubator to do manual temp checks at least a few times a day.
The first time hatching I got 36 eggs from a local breeder and I did not have the fan set up in the incubator because I didn't think I needed it. out of 36 eggs to begin incubating, 3 had cracks in them, 30 were fertile and developed. I got 11 live hatched chickens and the rest were dead in the shell and they took a period of 4 days to hatch. I began incubation and counted that at day 1 and locked them down on day 14. humidity was about 50% until day 14 and then it increased to 70. once the eggs began hatching the humidity spiked on its own to 80%. I left the chicks in with the eggs until they were 24hrs old and then removed them and eggs were still hatching. the first chicks out trampled several of the chicks so I only got 8 live babies who are now 2months old. several chicks died after getting their beaks out of the shell but then never progressed more than that.
The second time I added the fan to the incubator and ordered 24eggs from a supplier in Tx. With the fan in the incubator 21 were fertile, 1 was cracked. out of the 21 eggs that were fertile, 14 developed full term with only 9 live chicks to hatch and they all hatched on the same day within an hour of each other except for 1. The humidity I should note was 46% up until I locked down the eggs at day 14-I started incubation on day 0 and the chicks hatched on day 16. On day 14 when I locked down the eggs I added water and the humidity went to about 68-71%. I did remove the older chicks a few hours after hatching because they were rolling around the other eggs like crazy.
I opened each egg that did not hatch and found several chicks had pierced into the air pocket and then died. A few chicks appeared to have been dead for several days and some were even rotting. The 1 chick that hatched out several hours after the first has leg issues and cannot stand. which leads me to problem #2.
Problem #2.
The last quail chick to hatch out of this last batch has some messed up legs and foot. It appears to have a clubbed foot. after researching last night I found the shot glass method and used vet wrap to secure the legs. This little bird is so tiny I had to use rolled up fabric to prop it up properly. When it first hatched it was weak and kept flopping about but it could stand, just 1 foot turns in. So I went to work and came home after a 12 shift to find it belly up and not able to get up any more. after keeping it in the upright position with its legs secured last night, it can stay upright but if it walks to far, it flops back over. Its only 2 days old. Is there any hope for it? Or should I just give up and cull it? UG its just so tiny! I took this video of it this morning.
I tried to give as detailed information as I could but please if more information would be of help let me know and if i know it I will share it. Thank you in advance to all and any who offer help
Problem #1: Hatch rates in my incubator are low and chicks are dyeing in their shells fully formed. It is a little giant still air incubator with an aftermarket fan making it a forced air incubator. temp is set to 99F and fluctuates between 99 and 100.4F. I have a little giant egg turner with quail rails. I do have a old school thermometer inside the incubator to do manual temp checks at least a few times a day.
The first time hatching I got 36 eggs from a local breeder and I did not have the fan set up in the incubator because I didn't think I needed it. out of 36 eggs to begin incubating, 3 had cracks in them, 30 were fertile and developed. I got 11 live hatched chickens and the rest were dead in the shell and they took a period of 4 days to hatch. I began incubation and counted that at day 1 and locked them down on day 14. humidity was about 50% until day 14 and then it increased to 70. once the eggs began hatching the humidity spiked on its own to 80%. I left the chicks in with the eggs until they were 24hrs old and then removed them and eggs were still hatching. the first chicks out trampled several of the chicks so I only got 8 live babies who are now 2months old. several chicks died after getting their beaks out of the shell but then never progressed more than that.
The second time I added the fan to the incubator and ordered 24eggs from a supplier in Tx. With the fan in the incubator 21 were fertile, 1 was cracked. out of the 21 eggs that were fertile, 14 developed full term with only 9 live chicks to hatch and they all hatched on the same day within an hour of each other except for 1. The humidity I should note was 46% up until I locked down the eggs at day 14-I started incubation on day 0 and the chicks hatched on day 16. On day 14 when I locked down the eggs I added water and the humidity went to about 68-71%. I did remove the older chicks a few hours after hatching because they were rolling around the other eggs like crazy.
I opened each egg that did not hatch and found several chicks had pierced into the air pocket and then died. A few chicks appeared to have been dead for several days and some were even rotting. The 1 chick that hatched out several hours after the first has leg issues and cannot stand. which leads me to problem #2.
Problem #2.
The last quail chick to hatch out of this last batch has some messed up legs and foot. It appears to have a clubbed foot. after researching last night I found the shot glass method and used vet wrap to secure the legs. This little bird is so tiny I had to use rolled up fabric to prop it up properly. When it first hatched it was weak and kept flopping about but it could stand, just 1 foot turns in. So I went to work and came home after a 12 shift to find it belly up and not able to get up any more. after keeping it in the upright position with its legs secured last night, it can stay upright but if it walks to far, it flops back over. Its only 2 days old. Is there any hope for it? Or should I just give up and cull it? UG its just so tiny! I took this video of it this morning.
I tried to give as detailed information as I could but please if more information would be of help let me know and if i know it I will share it. Thank you in advance to all and any who offer help
