Optimum Egg Hatching For Coturnix Quail

[AdamHasNoFarm]

Hi everyone,

Brand new to the hatching journey and was just after some helpful advice regarding optimum hatching temps for my Coturnix eggs.

I have recently taken a clutch of eggs from my enclosure, 7 in total which have been added to a small incubator I purchased from eBay.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/23607459..._LnPO0IQrW&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

I don’t want to spend a fortune to begin with and this is all an experiment to begin with before I invest in any other incubators, as I’m assuming these style of incubators may not be all that reliable.

The eggs are now on day 3 and by the instructions that came with the incubator it suggests a constant temperature of around 38.5 degrees Celsius. Reading up online this seems to be in range, I am turning at least 3 times a day as quickly as possible so not to disturb temp (incubator doesn’t have auto turning) I’ve marked each egg with a small marker so I can be sure of an even turn each time. I’ve ordered a humidity probe as I completely forgot i needed one and that should arrive today, I’m hoping the humidity is around 50% given I’ve been topping the water up as when the incubator is almost dry.

Temp has been holding steady, I’ve read the temp probes on the machine are sometimes misleading and without second temp gauge arriving yet I’m not 100% sure.

Any additional help would be great.

I have a cheat sheet which I’m following that a friend gave me, to candle at Days 7 and 14, and add water every other day. Full water to raise humidity at day 18 and then lock down for hatching, does this all seem about right?

Thank you.

Apologies if any info I’ve provided seems inaccurate but I’m completely new to this and just hoping for the best.

 

[Chicken_Obsesser]

@oxalis would you be able to help?

 

[oxalis]

that all seems correct to me but it's also been two years since I incubated ours

most important thing I remember was staying on top of humidity levels around lockdown/hatch time and keeping the incubator closed. Too little humidity at hatch will cause the shell membrane to "shrink wrap" and make hatching harder. To much humidity and you can get more curled toes and bacterial issues.

@Nabiki has a lot more experience with incubating quail than me though

Hope you have a great hatch!

 

[AdamHasNoFarm]

that all seems correct to me but it's also been two years since I incubated ours

most important thing I remember was staying on top of humidity levels around lockdown/hatch time and keeping the incubator closed. Too little humidity at hatch will cause the shell membrane to "shrink wrap" and make hatching harder. To much humidity and you can get more curled toes and bacterial issues.

@Nabiki has a lot more experience with incubating quail than me though

Hope you have a great hatch!

Thank you so much! I’m still awaiting my humidity probe as it’s bank holiday I don’t think it’ll arrive until Tuesday and that’s my first candling day, hopefully I’ve been a god quail dad until now.

It’s been at a steady 38.5 degrees assuming that’s in range, that’s what the instructions say but online I read 37.5 was optima and now it’s day 4 I don’t wanna drop the temp in case it effects the eggs.

I’ve been topping water up whenever I notice it’s dry. I’m not entirely sure if my incubator is still air or forced. It was an in expensive eBay one and I can’t feel air blowing at all from under the eggs, it just makes a buzzing noise and all I feel is warm air rising rather then blowing.

So fingers crossed it’s all good, I think I’ll feel a bit more reassured after the humidity probe arrives and I’ve done my first candle.

 

[Nabiki]

I wrote an article on this, so hopefully it will be helpful for you.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/coturnix-incubation-tips.76184/