Quail egg incubation problems

[nadrojsack]

Okay ive been incubating quail eggs for sometime now, i recently set 100 eggs, i got 35 hatch, 29 still alive. I checked remaining eggs and i have alot, like 40 fully developed chicks not hatch, 15 early quitters and around 10 not fertile.

Can anyone shed some light on why im getting this?

Brinsea advance 20 ext humidity Incubator settings, 37.7 degrees Celsius, 47% humidity for 14 days with turner on, 72% humidity for final days with turner off. Only opened to take dividers out. I take chicks out when fluffy at around 12hrs after hatch.

This hatch i had one or two chicks hatch a few days after the rest, which was strange.

It would be nice if anyone could assist or shed some light on this. Thankyou

 

[TwoCrows]

A couple things could be going on. Are your vents wide open at lock down? Chicks need huge amounts of oxygen to hatch.

Have you opened up these eggs that have chicks dying in the eggs? Are they really wet or dry? Really wet could mean they are drowning, which can happen if your outside air is really saturated. (very high humidity in the room the incubator is in). If they are really dry, which I doubt, would mean somehow your humidity gauge is off and there is not enough humidity.

If too wet, you might try using a hatcher instead the incubator. At lock down, move the eggs to egg cartons setting them large end up in the cartons. One egg in each space. Have your hatcher ready at lock down and move eggs and cartons into it and hatch there.

I like to use two temp and humidity gauges...the ones on the machine and then I put a temp and humidity gauge inside with the eggs. Sometimes the gauges on the incubator can come out of calibration and a few degrees off of temp or humidity can make all the difference. When I run two of each of these gauges and I know I am using accurate one inside the machine, this helps me know if something is amiss.

 

[nadrojsack]

A couple things could be going on. Are your vents wide open at lock down? Chicks need huge amounts of oxygen to hatch. 

Have you opened up these eggs that have chicks dying in the eggs? Are they really wet or dry? Really wet could mean they are drowning, which can happen if your outside air is really saturated. (very high humidity in the room the incubator is in). If they are really dry, which I doubt, would mean somehow your humidity gauge is off and there is not enough humidity.

If too wet, you might try using a hatcher instead the incubator. At lock down, move the eggs to egg cartons setting them large end up in the cartons. One egg in each space. Have your hatcher ready at lock down and move eggs and cartons into it and hatch there. 

I like to use two temp and humidity gauges...the ones on the machine and then I put a temp and humidity gauge inside with the eggs. Sometimes the gauges on the incubator can come out of calibration and a few degrees off of temp or humidity can make all the difference. When I run two of each of these gauges and I know I am using accurate one inside the machine, this helps me know if something is amiss.

Brilliant info, no my vents are mostly closed... this could be the problem. Id say wet eggs. Whats the ideal humidity?

When you talk about putting eggs in eggs boxes, i thought the eggs had to lay flat during lockdown? So could i leave in dividers and leave eggs large end up?

I dont have a hatcher but do have two brinseas. Thankyou

 

[TwoCrows]

If your vents are mostly closed, then most likely this is the issue. Oxygen is so important at hatch. And since you had many of them hatch, if drowning were an issue, mostly likely most of them would have also not hatched.

But just for the information on drowning, instead of hatching in egg cartons, you could try lowering your humidity, IF it is too high. I personally think eggs should be on their sides to hatch. It is much easier on the chicks to get out of the eggs. But if you are experiencing drowning and lowering the humidity doesn't fix this problem, using egg cartons is an option.

Also, make sure you are using quality eggs. If these are shipped eggs, make sure they rest for 12 to 24 hours before setting to allow the air bubbles to disperse and the air cell to return to the top of the egg.

And always set eggs in a completely warmed up and humid incubator. I usually get them started 12 to 24 hours before setting my eggs.

 

[nadrojsack]

So theres two things to try. Ill open the vents to 3/4 open. And i usually set eggs by popping them in and turning in incubator to let them warm up with the incubator.
What humidity do you use for quail? Ive got a hatch of 66 coming close to lockdown. Ill see if your suggestions help on this hatch.

 

[TwoCrows]

At lock down open your vents completely. They need maximum oxygen at hatch, ESPECIALLY with large hatches as they are all drawing in huge amounts of air.

Setting eggs in a cold incubator will cause a lot of "blood rings". These early deaths are many times caused by setting in a cold incubator. They start to develop but the constant fluctuation of temps kills them.

Incubate at somewhere around 50%. Lock down try to keep the humidity around 65% to 70%.