New to the quail and egg raising concept. Need help

[Flying Penguin Ranch]

Lockdown is the last couple of days of incubation, where you raise the humidity to make it easier for the chicks to break out and stop turning the eggs. Usually you'll also stop opening the incubator, as that will allow the humidity to escape. You say you use a hatcher? I don't know what that is, but it sounds like it serves the same purpose as lockdown.

You can candle from around day 5. At that point you might - or might not - be able to see veins indicating the egg is fertile. Don't toss it if you see no veins, quail eggs can be hard to candle. Later you should see a dark area in the egg, getting bigger towards the end of the incubation.

Is it correct you only incubated 3 eggs? And they were laid 2 days after you got the birds? If the hens and roo hadn't been together for several days when you got them, the eggs might actually not have been fertile yet. Also if the birds had only just started laying, low fertility is very common. On the other hand, if the adults were more then 2 years old, low fertility is also normal.
If neither of those seem to explain the issue, I guess the fact the birds had just been moved could also mess up fertility - moving birds often causes egg production to stop, so I suppose it can cause other egg-issues as well.

Keep in mind, I know most of the above from reading this forum. I don't have coturnix quail myself and also don't have an incubator, so I could be a little off at some points..

Thanks for your help

 

[Plip]

I really think the issue was with either the fertility or the freshness of those first five eggs. I would be cautiously optimistic about the chances of the 20 that are currently incubating. Move them to the hatcher at 14 days, just like you did with the first five. And you can start the 12 that you have any time.

I would shoot for 99.5 degrees and, as @007Sean suggests, between 45 and 50% humidity. And then once they're in the hatcher, also 99.5 degrees and pretty much as high of humidity as you can get, with a goal of 70%. Otherwise, do everything exactly like you did it the first time.

It wouldn't hurt to verify your temperature and humidity with other instruments, but I don't think that's the most likely problem.

You seem like you're on top of it, and you pay attention to detail, so there's no reason you shouldn't be able to hatch some eggs.

 

[JaeG]

Here's a great candling guide for Coturnix quail:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/coturnix-quail-egg-candling-guide.71783/
You need a strong light to see past those spots.

I've put fresh eggs straight in the incubator, still warm, and I've never had a problem with them developing and hatching. I'd crack a few eggs open (fresh-ish ones) and look for the 'bullseye' to make sure your roo is getting the job done. Don't crack open really fresh eggs as the bullseye needs a little while to develop. Day old ones should show a good, clear bullseye.

It's the same as on a chicken egg, just smaller:

Sometimes it takes the roo awhile to perfect his technique.

 

[purslanegarden]

I usually expect that the first batch of eggs I collect each season that I'm incubating, may not be well fertilized, but I use it to verify the conditions of the incubator. If even a few hatch, I'll know I'm setting things up for the months ahead where I may have many more dozens of eggs going on at one time. If none hatch, then I crack the eggs open to see the yolk or not. Yolk means they were not fertilized anyway, and some development means they were but somehow I may have done something wrong.

I can verify that I've had eggs outside at room temperature for up to 7 days before putting in the eggs to the incubator. That is so that they would all being incubating around the same time, and hatch around the same time.

As a result of that, it's very possible that an extra 2-3 days are needed even after the expected hatch date to make sure you get all the babies.

Of course, if you learn and follow the candling methods, you should know which ones are already viable.

 

[NewMommie]

I am having issue with chicks some of my jumbos are pecking at my button quail and I'm not sure if separating will help what do you think

 

[JaeG]

I am having issue with chicks some of my jumbos are pecking at my button quail and I'm not sure if separating will help what do you think

How old are they? I recently ended up with one Coturnix (the few other eggs I'd put in with him didn't develop) so he got put in with some 4-5 day old Buttons, then some new ones as they hatched. He pecked at them a little but soon stopped. If it's just started I'd wait and see, as long as the Buttons aren't being really hurt, and see if they realise it's another chick and not something to peck at. If it continues I'd separate them.

Here's a newly hatched Colossus with his little buddies.

 

[BobDBirdDog]

I am having issue with chicks some of my jumbos are pecking at my button quail and I'm not sure if separating will help what do you think

You might want to try a red light if you are not. it will help stop pecking. Also, if they are not getting enough protien in the feed (24% or higher) that too might be the problem. Seperating the two species is not a bad idea. I have even noticed that among the same species, theres always one or two bully chicks in the mix that peck at the others. Mark the bullys heads with a sharpie and if needed, cull them if they keep it up, chances are they will continue to peck as they age and end up killing or lameing more of your keep, better to cull two and keep 10 than to keep 2 and bury 5.
sounds cold, but just my take on the matter.

 

[purslanegarden]

I have often culled out some aggressive birds. One day I realized, I am culling out some genetic material and leaving the ones that are not as aggressive or perhaps too passive.

It was an interesting realization. In the wild, where they may be able to run from each other, this kind of aggressive bird is the one that might get the girls and pass on his genes, even possibly have killed off less aggressive ones early on in his life. Or possibly because we raise them together in a brood box and that's why some will get over-picked on by everyone else, including one that seems to be the bully.

 

[BobDBirdDog]

I have often culled out some aggressive birds. One day I realized, I am culling out some genetic material and leaving the ones that are not as aggressive or perhaps too passive.

It was an interesting realization. In the wild, where they may be able to run from each other, this kind of aggressive bird is the one that might get the girls and pass on his genes, even possibly have killed off less aggressive ones early on in his life. Or possibly because we raise them together in a brood box and that's why some will get over-picked on by everyone else, including one that seems to be the bully.

I am enligtened! Thank you, that makes Mother Nature sense! Rethinking my strategy!