No chicks yet ):

[hacharlton]

Ok, Thanksgiving day and I decided to check the other eggs.

Not one of the other 13 eggs hatched.

Three or four had yellow yolk. I assume these were not fertile.
Some were all a nasty black / brown liquid.

The rest were looked like they had started to form but something went wrong.

So what do you think happened? I was using a very old borrowed incubator but it seemed to work ok. Humidity was a problem keeping steady.

I bought a new Little Giant incubator with turner and purchased Quail rails also. I put 29 eggs in on November 15th. Humidity seems to be the only hard part here also. I will take them out of the turner on Sunday, then hopefully on Thursday i will have some hatching. This first effort has been very disappointing to say the least.

I also found out that the door to my quail cage was either left open or came open during the day wednesday and i lost six Quail. Three were females. I am down to 1 female and 4 males now. Hope these others hatch

 

[hacharlton]

How big a part does humidity play in hatching Quail eggs. Can't see where a mother Quail sitting on eggs could keep the humidity steady

 

[becky3086]

Sometimes I think the more you mess with them the poorer the hatches are. I stick mine in the bator, stir them when I think of it. Add water when I feel like it and they hatch.

 

[newduckie]

Quote:
You sound like you are having a run on MY luck. So sorry about the eggs.... I think I am going to have a zero percent hatch rate on this, my first attempt. I know the temp has been fine, but I don't have any way of measuring the humidity. I have water and sponges in there but as for the actual humidity... no idea

 

[kingpincray]

Quails are usually pretty hardy I find and low humidity doesn't seem to harm them. Make sure the quality of the eggs are good to start with. Where do you get your eggs from?

If you find that you need to check the eggs when they have hatched, use a small screw to burrow a hole on the top of the air sac and you can see if anything is alive or not. If you do this on day 18 or 19 when they haven't hatched, it won't really harm them ( if it is alive) . If you see moving chick put them back in the bator and make sure the humidity is higher so that they don't dry up.

I have done this because my quails are late too this week and they are just starting to hatch at day 21. The temperature has been lower this time round because I had other eggs in there with different hatch dates and I have opened the incubator more times than necessary when the other hatched to get them out.

Best of luck

 

[hacharlton]

Kingpincray, I got my eggs from my adult Quail(approx. 11 weeks old).I bought them when they were chicks. I had 11 Quail until yesterday when I cam home and found the door open. Not sure if I left it open or what. So far as quality I can't be sure. Some of the eggs are a week old but i heard that quail are eggs hardy. I lost 6 when the door was left open and three were hens. I am down to one hen so I hope I have good luck on my next batch. Day 14 on these eggs will be Sunday. So by next thursday I will know if my second attempt is better. I just put 36 eggs in the incubator that had the 1 of 14 batch. Hoping for the best. If I do not have better luck with these two batches I might have to buy some eggs or chicks and try again.

My only chick hatched seems to be doing good as it is eating and drinking.

 

[kingpincray]

sounds like you have houdini quails...lol.

Maybe you should change the cage with a top opening that self closes like I have. No problem with them disappearing. I feel your pain. I have lost one last week too, my precious golden hen.

I am about to set another lot of eggs in the weekend and hopefully I will get a better hatch this time round too.

all the best to you.

oh we could be quail hatching buddies...

 

[kingpincray]

I have a thread going on a broody quail. Might be of interest to you.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=266462

 

[hacharlton]

I believe that I am not supposed to hatch Quail

After my 1 of 14 Coturnix hatch I was hoping for better luck with the next batch of 29 eggs. I put these 29 eggs in a Brand New incubator and hoped for the best. Well, day 18 was yesterday and nothing, except two eggs look like they have some "yolk" popping out of the egg. I will leave them in til Monday or Tuesday.

I have 36 eggs in the borrowed incubator that "should" hatch on Dec 14th. With my experience with my first two trys I have almost given up hope.

WHAT AM I DOING WRONG??????????????

After my error on leaving the door open to the Quail cage I have only one Female Quail left. I was getting an egg a day til the last few days and now nothing.
I guess that is good as it is hard to collect eggs at one a day and try to hatch any.

Were my eggs just not any good?

Do I need to order eggs via the mail??? I want to raise Quail but it seems I am unable to hatch.

 

[kingpincray]

hmmm....usually they are quite easy. How old are the males? They are not sexually mature until about week 12 even though they start humping at week 7. Could that be a reason.