Quail egg incubation help needed

[RosieR]

I think up to a week at room temp should be ok. Not sure about the antibiotics

 

[Jus1]

Awesome. Thanks Rosie. That's what I thought but wasn't really sure. Other research I've done says different things. I've gotten my best advise from you all here and it's the information I trust most

 

[Sara L]

I talked to TwoCrows last night. That's who advised me to start a new thread. I have turned off the incubator now, I'm sure you all are right and I won't get any more hatch. I was surprised I got 2 as I felt even putting them in lockdown was probably a wast of time

I recommend tapping on the eggs and possibly opening them gently from the fat end, so you can find out if any of the eggs are still alive or how far they progressed before passing. My incubation for coturnix is usually 18 days, so it's possible that some are still alive. If none are alive, by doing the eggtopsy and seeing how the chicks developed, it can give you some clues about what you were doing right/wrong and what you may want to change for the next incubation.

 

[Jus1]

I recommend tapping on the eggs and possibly opening them gently from the fat end, so you can find out if any of the eggs are still alive or how far they progressed before passing. My incubation for coturnix is usually 18 days, so it's possible that some are still alive. If none are alive, by doing the eggtopsy and seeing how the chicks developed, it can give you some clues about what you were doing right/wrong and what you may want to change for the next incubation.

I'm not sure what I'm looking for, but here it is

 

[Sara L]

I'm not sure what I'm looking for, but here it is

If you can (probably need trash bag handy) open the egg so you can see more of the chick, specifically the tummy area where the yolk is supposed to be absorbed. If there's still yolk it probably passed at or before lockdown. The yolk gets smaller and smaller as the chick absorbs it getting ready to hatch. If it passed around the time of lockdown the yolk would probably be around the size of a nickle. If the chick absorbed all the yolk and didn't pip internally or externally then it could have been too high of humidity. Or it could have been positioned wrong in the egg.

 

[Sara L]

If the yolk is very large compared to the chick, it passed partway through the incubation and didn't make it to lockdown.

There should be some threads on here about possible incubation issues depending on how the chick looks. I can't look for it now on my phone but I can try to find it tonight after work if someone else doesn't post it first.

 

[Jus1]

If you can (probably need trash bag handy) open the egg so you can see more of the chick, specifically the tummy area where the yolk is supposed to be absorbed. If there's still yolk it probably passed at or before lockdown. The yolk gets smaller and smaller as the chick absorbs it getting ready to hatch. If it passed around the time of lockdown the yolk would probably be around the size of a nickle. If the chick absorbed all the yolk and didn't pip internally or externally then it could have been too high of humidity. Or it could have been positioned wrong in the egg.

I've done 6 and all but 1 look like this. Sorry I'm an animal freak. I can't do anymore. They developed nicely. I fear it was that rubber mat letting out toxins

 

[Jus1]

This is the only little guy to make it, and with TwoCrow's advise, I had to rescue him, he piped and just kept his beak out moving super fast for over 12 hours. He's healthy and thriving

 

[Sara L]

I've done 6 and all but 1 look like this. Sorry I'm an animal freak. I can't do anymore. They developed nicely. I fear it was that rubber mat letting out toxins

I'm sorry about your hatch, hopefully the next one goes smoothly. When I first started I couldn't look inside the failed eggs either, but later could and found it helped a little bit with trying to find out what went wrong. Do what you are comfortable with.

You had another question about storing the eggs, I've hatched eggs that were up to 2 weeks old, stored between 50-60 degrees F. Usually the older the egg the less likely it will hatch. A week to 10 days is usually the longest to store without dropping hatch rate too much.

 

[Sara L]

This is the only little guy to make it, and with TwoCrow's advise, I had to rescue him, he piped and just kept his beak out moving super fast for over 12 hours. He's healthy and thriving

Yay, glad your little one is doing well.