chopin_the_quail
Chirping
Hello!
So for context, we have a wild experiment going on where we're incubating supermarket quail eggs with our dove hen, and on day 14 we put them under a heat lamp so the dove doesn't bother them. We did this in August with just 3 random eggs from our fridge, 2 turned out fertile and 1 of them hatched. Now we have been trying to repeat this since then, but our luck has run dry. Only about 10% of the eggs we've had have been viable, most failed developing at some later point, and none have hatched yet. We suppose they are all coturnix as those are the most popular for mass production around here.
Here's the current issue:
We have an egg starting day 19 now. I thought I saw tiny movement, but it was very weak and eventually I started thinking I'm imagining it, so I did a float test. During the float test it rolled around and there was obviously movement, just a lot lighter than we've had before. There's no sound coming from inside, no tapping or chirping, so I assume there's no internal pip. On our first go the chick hatched after a lot of intense movement and rolling for almost 2 days (hatched day 18), so I'm not sure how long to wait now if they haven't pipped yet and the movement is this weak.
Have you got any device for me, any experience with late hatches? Should I candle them, and if yes, what should I be looking for?
So for context, we have a wild experiment going on where we're incubating supermarket quail eggs with our dove hen, and on day 14 we put them under a heat lamp so the dove doesn't bother them. We did this in August with just 3 random eggs from our fridge, 2 turned out fertile and 1 of them hatched. Now we have been trying to repeat this since then, but our luck has run dry. Only about 10% of the eggs we've had have been viable, most failed developing at some later point, and none have hatched yet. We suppose they are all coturnix as those are the most popular for mass production around here.
Here's the current issue:
We have an egg starting day 19 now. I thought I saw tiny movement, but it was very weak and eventually I started thinking I'm imagining it, so I did a float test. During the float test it rolled around and there was obviously movement, just a lot lighter than we've had before. There's no sound coming from inside, no tapping or chirping, so I assume there's no internal pip. On our first go the chick hatched after a lot of intense movement and rolling for almost 2 days (hatched day 18), so I'm not sure how long to wait now if they haven't pipped yet and the movement is this weak.
Have you got any device for me, any experience with late hatches? Should I candle them, and if yes, what should I be looking for?