Quail eggs... put them in tray?

[wanda047]

My bobwhites are due to start hatching on Sunday Morning. I had them in a quail tray in the beginning, but couldn't figure out how to turn the little things without risking breaking them, so tossed the tray and laid them in the bator on their sides, rolling them instead of turning each individual egg (a suggestion from a BYC'er). I started out with 113 eggs, so this was so much easier, than hand-turning.

Now.. my question is, for hatching would it be better to put them back in the tray so the hatched won't disturb the unhatched so much or leave the eggs on their sides? (Did that even make sense?

)

I candled a couple days ago and appear to have 98 viable eggs. Any suggestions would be welcome for this newbie!

 

[shelleyd2008]

I've never hatched in trays or cartons. I would just leave them. If it were me, I'd be more scared of dropping an egg in the process

 

[Ironsun]

Hi,

Just leave them on their sides, they will hatch perfectly fine.Make sure you stop turning the eggs three days before due, and top up the water vessels, close the vents on your incubator and don't open it again until they have hatched and dried out and fluffy.

Ironsun.

 

[kycrawler]

i used to lay the eggs on thier side to hatch but have since found that i get a better hatch with healthier chicks if i leave the in the quail egg trays ( i use the gqf trays ) they seen to be able to get out of the shell easier if the egg is held stationary

 

[kingmt]

I have tried to leave them in the tray this time & watched as the chicks had a very hard time getting out of the shell after cracking the top clear off. I don't know if the tray is to blame but my hatch rate this time has been really bad.

 

[macnugget]

I always hatch in trays with stronger chicks and have had better hatch rates with the use of trays and thats for chickens as well but I start with trays through the whole process since you got them laying down leave them but next time try using the tray for the whole incubation period. I know I have butter fingers and have dropped my share while moving eggs. good luck

 

[Mrs MIA]

I highly recommend putting them back in the carton. Not only will you get more eggs in the hatcher, but they seem to have an easier time getting out of the eggs. When there's that many, there's always a chance a pipping egg will get rolled up against a wall or another egg, and the chick has a hard time pushing to get out. With the carton, they all pop out the top hatches no problems.

And all the little egg chips stay in the carton for easy clean up! I swear by it... I've hatched HUNDREDS of quail this year, probably thousands, and all have been in the carton. Try it.

 

[wanda047]

Well, I hope I didn't just mess things up!

After reading the general concensus, I opted to put the eggs back in the tray. About half way through, I notice a pipped egg!!!

These little guys are NOT due till Sunday!

I started looking a little closer and found four more pipped eggs. I quickly finished placing the eggs in the tray and filled the bottom water troughs in an effort to get the humidity up. I am definitely not prepared for this! In fact, I'm on my way on a camping trip.

I intended to up the humidity on the bator this afternoon before leaving and intended to return on Sunday in hopes of finding a bator full of babies. Now I don't know what I'm going to do. We're not going too far. Guess I could make a trip back home tomorrow to check on them.

 

[quailmaster]

i used to lay the eggs on thier side to hatch but have since found that i get a better hatch with healthier chicks if i leave the in the quail egg trays ( i use the gqf trays ) they seen to be able to get out of the shell easier if the egg is held stationary

kycrawler , won't the little chicks get hurt or stuck under the eggturner after they hatch or do you take the eggtuner out and leave only the trays?​

 

[_lizzer_]

Where do you purchase the small cardboard trays like that? All I can find online are the huge plastic ones.