Quail Hatching Problems ... Day 23

[Msbear]

A friend asked me to post for her.

Her humidity is at 75% .. no peeping. She started to open them up and there is no air cell but there is a live embryo that is breathing but not peeping. She is working the shell a bit to let the beak breathe. Should she open up all the chicks? or is this typical for them to wait this long? What happened to the air cell? Humidity has been turned up for 4 days or so.

Thanks.

 

[MichiganWoods]

What kind of quail is she hatching? Some breeds (coturnix) take 16-18 days, while other breeds take 23 days. Some even take 25! Here is a link to a chart that shows which breeds take what amount of time in the incubator.

 

[citalk2much]

That is a nice chart Cass

 

[Msbear]

Thanks, they are coturnix... she's thinking her days got confused and it may only be day 19. There was an air cell.. it was on the side. The chick is now peeping. She's letting the rest go tonight and will re-examine situation tomorrow.

Thanks so much, Michicgan Woods

 

[MichiganWoods]

I found that when I was thinking about incubating quail eggs for the first time, citalk2much. I thought it was pretty neat too.

I'm wishing your friend luck, Msbear!

 

[kryptoniteqhs]

Hey guys....I am friend lol.
Ok so this is what happened. They are Coturnix eggs. I incubated these with regular chicken eggs and I figured since these quail normally hatch on day 16-17, I would put them in 5 days after I put my chicken eggs in so they would all hatch at the same time.
I just moved, but my incubator was still at my old house because I was in the middle of a hatch.
I was at work yesterday and my mom text me and said one of my marans eggs was pipping! I thought wow! I assumed the hatch was done, but figured id give it a few extra days just in case anyone else wanted to come join us lol (yesterday was day 23 for the chicken eggs).
She later called me and said that the humidity had dropped incredibly and that she didnt hear anymore peeping so assumed the chick had gotten shrink wrapped and died.
I went over there immediately after work, by the time I got there they had the humidity back up to 70 something. I looked and found there to be no pip at all on any eggs lol.....My mom is new at this, so I figured the peeping was wishful thinking and maybe a little bit of "after birth" from one of the other chicks that hatched made it look like another one had pipped.
At this point I "knew" the hatch was done, I started opening up the chicken eggs and they were all dead or not fully developed (keep in mind I did hatch several out on day 21).
Before I had ever set these eggs I dropped all the quail egg and some broke and I set the remainder that didnt. I didnt really expect them to hatch anyway.
Now, knowing that these chicks were all dead and the we were on day 23, I opened up the quail eggs completely forgetting that they were only 1 day late!!!!!!! The first one was alive. Still it didnt click to me so I thought it was a fluke and figured I was lucky to have caught it when I did and maybe I could save it. I opened the membrane so it could breathe and it started cheeping, I put it back in the bator to re-examine a little later. I started opening up more, then as I pipped the air cell, a feather popped out, and I thought, OH CRAP! Then of course I noticed the breathing.....So, then I realized that where the aircell should have been, it wasnt and there was a feather coming out instead. This one I believe was good that I found. When I did finally find the aircell it was on the side and teeny weeny, I opened it up just enough to let the beak out so it could breathe and cheap. Then I put it back in the bator.
I am at my house right now and am getting ready to go to my moms to check on everything, but this is whats happened as of yet, to my knowledge. I also stopped opening eggs after the second live one and threw everyone back in the bator, even some of the ones I thought were dead, just in case.....Sorry so long, didnt know how else to explain it, will update later........Thanks for listening!

 

[citalk2much]

I would give coturnix 18-21 days as hatch days

 

[kryptoniteqhs]

oh great.....lol....that kinda sucks.....i got the two out of the shell and figured since it was day 19 that i should check and see if the others needed help.....only one was alive and fully developed, so i helped that one just enough so it could breathe and then it did the rest itself pretty quick......that one didnt seem to be doing as well as the other two tho......but all of them absorbed all of their yokes so i assume they were ready.................idk....now i feel horrible for interfering....ive always been one of those "Let nature take its course" kind of person.....or more like "let nature take its course until something starts to go wrong" lol....ive never helped anything hatch before and never wanted to unless i was sure it was needed......but, this sort of took me by surprise....now all i can do is pray and hope for the best! thanks for the support and thanks for not criticizing me....!

 

[gabrielle1976]