Our first Quail hatch on BYC !!! (A bit overdue !!)

[Rob and Greg]

Hi all !! My SO and I have started a batch of 36 Coturnix quail eggs (got the eggs in the post), and candling didn't seem to reveal any 'spirit level' loose air sacs, so we placed them in the incubator with two hens eggs that had a few days head start (so they were due at the same time).

We set the temperature, and it has stayed constant, with good humidity (about 50-55%) however then placing a temp probe at the base of the eggs (i.e.: on the actual mesh they're sitting on) it reads at 36.1℃ / 97℉

The eggs still have not hatched, and we're now on Day 22 for the hens, Day 19 for the Quails.

I am assuming that the lower temp has delayed the hatch? I read in Sally's FAQ that eggs can take up to 4 extra days to hatch for various reasons, so won't panic until Wed our time (Tues USA)

Humidity for the lockdown period has been 60-65%, so that is OK.

*Fingers Crossed*.

Cheers, Rob.

PS: Our first Quail hatch on BYC Forum. We're excited to share !!

 

[Rob and Greg]

Arrived home and one of the chicken eggs has a definite pip, and one Quail egg that we can see. It's so hard to tell with the speckles.

 

[Rob and Greg]

Presenting.... Quail The First. !!!! Yay. I heard it start peeping about 15 mins ago, and thought it was our chick in the brooder - but it sounded different. What a lovely surprise.

 

[TwoCrows]

Congrats on the quail baby! Hope the rest of the hatch goes well too.

 

[Rob and Greg]

Well, so far we have seven Quail and one Chicken... and counting. Seeing as they're running around like fuzzy pinballs, there goes the idea of keeping the other eggs undisturbed in lockdown...

 

[Rob and Greg]

Well, Now we have the following:

1 Chicken. Happily living in it's own quarters next door to our other chick.

9 Quails of assorted colour who hatched of their own accord.
9 Quails of assorted colour (they're all Coturnix - just have to figure out the types. once they're a bit bigger I'll give a full count, but there are partridgey looking ones, a black one, a few blondes.)

A friend who's an eggspert with poultry came over and helped with the 9 slowpokes. Apparently, they had all pipped, but because they were so late they had not much strength left to break free. With assistance we have 18 quails, one of which needed help with it's toes - we've taped them in correct position using micropore tape. (they were all curled).






18 out of 36 is a 50% hatch rate, which we think is great for postal-order eggs (from SA to NSW !!) Not sure if I can post the seller's details here, but it was from the quailsaustralia website - gent named Brad. I recommend him. Fast postage and we're very happy with the results.

We have some golden syrup in their drinking water for energy, and they've been eating the chick crumbles like anything. I've read both sides that say you can and can't use them, so we are looking for Game Bird crumbles to replace them asap (just as a precaution).

I'm sad we can't keep them near chickens due to disease transmission, but if our setup is quarantined from outside animals, and we're not showing them or anything, is it possible that the chickens might not get any of the diseases that prove fatal to quails?

Our internet has been throttled to 256k (darn ABC On Demand) and so I won't be posting many pics for a couple of weeks until we get bandwidth back again. Well, Maybe a couple..

We will investigate the remainder of the eggs tomorrow and see what has happened / how far they developed. I'll open them very carefully in case there is still a weak live chick waiting for rescue. We can only hope.

Next time, I will adjust the temperature in the incubator to 2℃ higher than required, as the thermostat probe is in the ceiling of the P&I incubator, therefore a temp probe on the mesh where the eggs actually sit gives a reading 2℃ lower than the digital readout. This is probably what delayed the development and hatch. Still, I think 50% for a first hatch isn't too bad !!

Hugs to all,
Rob.

 

[TwoCrows]

A 50% hatch rate for shipped eggs is great. Typical for shipped eggs. Nothing wrong with that!

Congrats on all those babies!