Quail eggs not hatching!!

[pacosmom]

I have 32 bobwhite eggs in the incubator, it is day 24 and I'm not seeing anything happening, when do I give up on them? I have watched them a hundred times a day for almost a month, I'm so disappointed!

 

[TwoCrows]

What was your temp during incubation? What was the humidity during incubation and then at lock down? Where did you get these eggs and how were they stored before setting?

 

[pacosmom]

Thank you for answering me, I am brand new at this. The temp. during incubation was 99 to 100 degrees, I dont know about the humidity, I kept the trays full of water, but I dont have a hydrometer?? so I dont know. I wont make that mistake again. I got the eggs from the quail my neighbor has. He just got them so he's not a breeder yet. I put them in a little sack and kept them in the garage for less than a week before I got the incubator. I followed the directions on the box it came in. I put them in quail rails so they were turned until 5 days before the date they were supposed to hatch, then took out the rails and set the eggs on the bottom of the incubator. I'm still not seeing any action in the incubator, it's day 25. Also we added a fan to the incubator.

 

[James the Bald]

Thank you for answering me, I am brand new at this. The temp. during incubation was 99 to 100 degrees, I dont know about the humidity, I kept the trays full of water, I dont have a hydrometer?? so I dont know. I wont make that mistake again. I got the eggs from the quail my neighbor has. He just got them so he's not a breeder yet. I put them in a little sack and kept them in the garage for less than a week before I got the incubator. I followed the directions on the box it came in. I put them in quail rails so they were turned until 5 days before the date they were supposed to hatch, then took out the rails and set the eggs on the bottom of the incubator. I'm still not seeing any action in the incubator, it's day 25. Also we added a fan to the incubator.

PacosMom, just out of curiosity, has the person you got these eggs from hatched any himself? From the information that you gave, you should have seen "something". The only reason I ask is that they may not be "fertile" eggs. If he "just got them", there is the chance that his roo may not have reached maturity.
Being that you don't want to make that mistake again, may I suggest that you purchase a digital thermometer that has a hydrometer. They have high end gadgets that are nice to have, but the basic is a good start.
Hope this helps.
Edited to add: What was the temperature inside your garage? I understand that finding a location that is 50 degrees is hard to find, so I hope the temps never got above 60 in there.
You mentioned that you kept them in a sack. For future reference, the eggs should be stored with the pointy end down.
James

 

[TwoCrows]

Thank you for answering me, I am brand new at this. The temp. during incubation was 99 to 100 degrees, I dont know about the humidity, I kept the trays full of water, but I dont have a hydrometer?? so I dont know. I wont make that mistake again. I got the eggs from the quail my neighbor has. He just got them so he's not a breeder yet. I put them in a little sack and kept them in the garage for less than a week before I got the incubator. I followed the directions on the box it came in. I put them in quail rails so they were turned until 5 days before the date they were supposed to hatch, then took out the rails and set the eggs on the bottom of the incubator. I'm still not seeing any action in the incubator, it's day 25. Also we added a fan to the incubator.

James is probably on to something here as "just getting the eggs' means they probably were not fertile yet. Quail need to be breeding for 2 full weeks before eggs are collected. Also, next time you receive eggs, they need to be stored in egg cartons, large end up and a place of 50 to 60 degrees. I know that is hard this time of year, but too much warm and the embryo's start to develop. And not properly I might add.

Also, never store eggs for more than 10 days.

 

[pacosmom]

I woke this morning to an unusual peeping noise, I have one baby! It looks like there may be a few more, there are tiny cracks in some other eggs. I know they can be kept in the incubator up to 48 hours, but after that they should be in a brooder, I just hate to put one or two in there alone. I have quail starter feed, and I know to put a shallow bowl of water in with rocks so they wont drown, anything else? I have a heat lamp and fine sawdust. Thank you so much for your advice, I will use every bit of it. How on earth will I keep eggs at 60 degrees, it's already 84 out and it's only 9am! I'll work on that.

 

[Sycamore27]

I woke this morning to an unusual peeping noise, I have one baby! It looks like there may be a few more, there are tiny cracks in some other eggs. I know they can be kept in the incubator up to 48 hours, but after that they should be in a brooder, I just hate to put one or two in there alone. I have quail starter feed, and I know to put a shallow bowl of water in with rocks so they wont drown, anything else? I have a heat lamp and fine sawdust. Thank you so much for your advice, I will use every bit of it. How on earth will I keep eggs at 60 degrees, it's already 84 out and it's only 9am! I'll work on that.

Quail chicks shouldn't be without food and water much past 24 hours from hatching, they have faster metabolisms than chicken chicks.
Make sure they are dry and fluffy before you take them out, the temperature under your lamp on the floor of the brooder should be 97. Put the heat to one side and food and water to the other. I would recommend putting down paper towels and grippy shelf liner for the first 4 days after the last one hatches, it will help prevent leg issues. The food should be ground very fine for about the first week, regular crumbles are normally too big for freshly hatched quail, and remember to scatter some of it around the feeder on the floor for the first few days so they know where the food is kept. Dip everyone's beak into the water so they know where it is.

As far as the eggs go, if you're lucky enough to have a cool basement or room in your house that stays cooler than the rest take advantage of it. I've also heard of people using a wine cooler or mini fridge set to a lower setting to keep eggs between 50 and 60 degrees.

Hope to see some pictures of your babies soon!
Cheers,
Jessie

 

[pacosmom]

I put boiled egg in a small blender and put it in a jar lid, did this with water also. I put his little beak in both, not much interest yet but at least it's there. I'm trying to figure out how to post a picture, stay tuned.

 

[chowlett]

I have 32 bobwhite eggs in the incubator, it is day 24 and I'm not seeing anything happening, when do I give up on them? I have watched them a hundred times a day for almost a month, I'm so disappointed!

Bought valley quail eggs from a distributor through Stromberg’s. Put them in the incubator about 8 hours after they arrived by USPS who threw the package on the porch, likely causing the 5/6 eggs that were cracked. On day 19, removed the eggs from the automatic egg rotator and put them back in the hova bator incubator. Increased humidity to 65%. Have two digital thermometers. Incubator has been at 100.02 for 19 days and now at 98.5 degrees set on day 20. This is day 22 – no movement and the humidity is now at 58%. There are 100 eggs. Getting concerned about humidity level and the fact nothing is happening. Curious is you have any advice and/or if I need to provide any additional information.



Thanks kindly!

Chris

 

[CovidtimeQuail]

this is an older thread but wondering if you candled them before lockdown. This would at least give you an idea of whether anything is developing.