Quail eggs no longer moving

[Mlshaw0914]

Hi there,
My neighbour gave me some quail eggs and I thought I'd have a go at hatching them. I am using an R Com King Suro and have followed the instructions for quail as far as possible. The pump stopped working so I have put a damp flannel in to get humidity up. They are at day 18 and nothing is happening. I stopped the turning cradle at day 14 and then turned by hand until the day before yesterday which was day 16. On day 14 I'm sure I saw some of the eggs rolling a bit but they aren't doing so now. The humidity was at 45% and I've got it up to 65-70% now. Could they be dead or just bluffing? I don't know what type of quail they are but I'm guessing they are the most common commercial ones. I was going to wait till day 21 just in case. I have had success with hatching bantams in the past so I'm not a total novice on the incubation front, I've just never had a go at quail before
Thank you in advance
Sarah.

Your not still turning then are you? Cause at day 14 when you kick them down, they shouldn't be turned anymore.

 

[Mlshaw0914]

You might have to put the quail eggs in a bowl just big enough for the bantam to sit in (hide it under the bedding so she doesn't notice) and add a few chicken eggs or fake chicken eggs too because often they don't recognise the quail eggs as eggs. I have used a bantam before but the babies definitely need to be brooded by you. Quail are a lot more helpless than chicken chicks, needing to eat sooner (within the first 24 hours), needing to cuddle more, and a hen just doesn't understand and goes about her business as if she has 'normal' chicks.

Button quail can go to the 72 hours surviving on the egg yolk they absorbed right before hatching.

 

[CliftonQuail]

Button quail can go to the 72 hours surviving on the egg yolk they absorbed right before hatching.

I just wanted to point out that this thread is from more than 3 years ago and the OP hasn't been seen here since.