Poor hatch, sad little boys

[aDuckMama]

I am posting after an poor first time hatch of California Quail. I ordered 10 fertile eggs from a breeder in a city about 45 miles from me (they sent 11). The package arrived sooner than I had planned, on a Friday afternoon just before we left for the weekend. I wasn't expecting the the eggs to arrive until the next week. I left them unopened in the package they were shipped in my house. We turned the house thermostat down to 65 degrees while we were gone. When we got back home Monday afternoon, I put them into my little HatchMate incubator with an automatic turner. We kept the temp constant, but had a hard time with keeping the humidity up (we live in Utah). At lockdown I was more diligent with keeping the humidity up. Only 4 of the eggs pipped, but all 4 pipped in a malformed position. Only one survived and is now 36 hours old. It is fluffy and peeps a lot. It has curled toes but doesn't have any other malformations. My two boys (ages 7 and 10)and I, are sad about the loss of the other chicks and eggs. I opened the eggs that did not pip. Some had a very large air cell. Others were just sloshy inside. None stunk or exploded. Maybe the eggs were just old? Maybe having them in the house for the weekend while we were gone was the wrong thing to do? Maybe too dry during incubation? I want to order some more eggs and try again but am quite nervous about doing so. We are enjoying our little singleton right now, though.

 

[el dorado quail]

Maybe not all were fertile. Try a different breeder maybe?

 

[Ebony Rose]

Very large air cell... sounds like not enough humidity. Is that incubator a still air or does it have a fan? Still air incubators require higher temperatures than those with fans. Wet sponges help to even out and elevate humidity. Were the eggs stored with their fat side UP or DOWN? Should store them fat side up and turn them daily to keep them from sticking to the shell. I'm curious why you didn't set the eggs in your incubator while you were out of town, since you have an automatic egg turner. As el dorado quail suggests, they may not have all been fertile to begin with.
Raising a singleton is harder on you and on the bird; I've had good luck rolling up a sock and putting it in the brooder with them as a snuggle buddy. Is there any chance that you can pick up a day old chick at the feed store to give them company? They're very social birds.

 

[AquaDuck]

Hi and welcome to BYC!
Big air cells, malpositions, definitely sounds like a humidity-problem for the ones that made it to hatch. I'm guessing they were on "the dry side" when you put them in the machine because of the waiting period. The water-air exchange begins the moment the eggs are laid, and it's best to store eggs in relatively humid conditions so it won't loose too much moisture before setting. Since you're in Utah, I'm guessing the conditions were pretty dry.
I'd try again with more eggs if I were you, and be sure to keep the humidity up and check the eggs during incubation.

 

[tennesseequail]

ya, sonds like humidity also I am not an expert on this, but I hatch 90 plus eggs every week or 2 now, so I am starting to get the idea.

I live in Tennessee (in the southern part near chatt) and humidity in general for me isn't a big deal, as I hatch dry for the first 14 days and it is still 40-45% Don't take much for me to push it to 65

I also use a still air for the lock down, and have it up and running a day prior to make sure all my numbers are in the norm I use a forced air for the fist 14 days, and my hatch rates went thru the roof once I started doing this.

 

[aDuckMama]

Thanks for the info! We decided to try again. My incubator has a fan and I am watching the humidity obsessively this time. My Singleton is doing well. We put a small stuffed animal in the brooder with him/her. He/she snuggles underneath it.

 

[aDuckMama]

My little one with his/her "friend". I love the beginnings of that top knot!