"Quail Thread-Hatching, Mutations, and everything quail related!!!"

[Sunshine0235]

I bought some button quail eggs last week and got them in the mail yesterday. I do have two eggs in the incubator from my one hen( her first and only two eggs so far) that are due to hatch tomorrow i think, if they were fertile, which I doubt, but its possible since she was with one roo, never saw anything between them though.

The eggs i bought were 15+ which they sent 20 eggs, and I was shocked with the second package, its was 20+ extras, and they sent 40 eggs, they are going in the incubator tonight, Im gonna have fun turning them all by hand. Glad they have a short incubation time, less turning for me. I've tried a turner with my chicken eggs, but overall didnt like it, so I turn my eggs by hand, more personal that way.

 

[Bukrub66]

This time of year fertilization is iffy. I bought a dozen eggs and was given 47 because of it. Of those only 14 were fertile and made it to lockdown. 10 of those hatched. So don't be disappointed for a low hatch rate, and if you have a good one it will be all the more exciting.

 

[dc3085]

This time of year fertilization is iffy. I bought a dozen eggs and was given 47 because of it. Of those only 14 were fertile and made it to lockdown. 10 of those hatched. So don't be disappointed for a low hatch rate, and if you have a good one it will be all the more exciting.

It is not true that fertility is "iffy" this time of year. The fertility of the person's flock where you got the eggs from is "iffy" maybe but that only means he/she is a poor keeper. I've seen no research or had any experience that indicates a thrifty flock will have a decrease in fertility for the winter, at least not a noticeable one. Many people don't hatch coturnix any other time of year than now, in order to keep flies down in the summer.

Also how are you verifying fertility? Eggs that developed? If hatching eggs suffer too many setbacks in shipping they can fail to start incubating. If they were xrayed at any point, embryo's will fail to develop as well.

 

[Bukrub66]

You might be totally correct on that. I have been doing chickens and quail exactly 3 months so my experience is limited. My statement was based on what I was told while in search of chicken eggs from all over the country that most couldn't provide until Febuary due to molting and amount of daylight. I was told similar issues by my local quail guy. As for fertility, I tested by candling. Clear eggs were assumed to be infertile. One's I couldn't see thru went to lockdown. Concidering this thread was dead for 3 months prior to me posting and not many answers being given to asked questions, I figured I would give what input I have. Lesson learned. I'll keep my answers to myself from now on.

 

[dc3085]

You need not keep things to yourself but realize that this is a place of learning and we want the clearest most correct information shared. I'm not picking on you, everyone learns as they go and the poultry world is rife with barnyard myth.

Candling is only an estimation of whether or not an embryo began to develop. There are a lot of biological factors that can stop a fertile egg from hatching. being x rayed, broken air sacs, improper storage, being washed, improper handling, etc.

Crack the eggs that show up clear when you candle and look for a 'bullseye' in the yolk, that is the only way to verify fertility on a non starter. You can search byc for pictures of a fertilized yolk, there will be many.

JMF is booked on hatching eggs till the end of the year, they have over 10000 quail. If fertility was bad this time of year then they wouldn't have been booked since october.

Edited for spelling

 

[Bukrub66]

Yea, I probably shouldn't have taken offense. Just have seen not a a lot of response here and tried to share what I have learned. I hunted high and low for Swedish Flower hen eggs and that is what I was told. I finally found some in South Caralina and was told this was not a good time for eggs. Of the 10 I ordered, 14 were shipped. Only one of those had an air cell. 4 of those 14 made it to lockdown, the rest either being clear in candling or obviously aborted with a noticeable blood ring. Of the 4 that remained, only one hatched. The last three had fully developed chicks that appeared to have drown in the shell. That's why I did dry incubation on my quail.

On the quail, I bought 39 eggs local and was told the same thing about the time of year. Of course being coturnix Browns and whites they were difficult to see anything growing during candling until lockdown. At that time I discarded anything I could see thru easily. I had also had a friend give me 8 Bobwhite eggs. He has 4 hens and a rooster. When I asked for the eggs, he said they had quit laying but over the next few days he was able to get me the eggs. In all of these, they remained clear and I assumed infertile.

I'm still learning and read all I can. I now have 10 quail that went into outdoor pens yesterday. After I pick up a few more chicks today I will have 5 chickens. Im very excited to have my own eggs to hatch and see how my hatch rate improves. I'm now addicted to hatching eggs. I only hope I find people that will want what I hatch so I don't end up being the bird guy.

 

[hosspak]

Yea, I probably shouldn't have taken offense. Just have seen not a a lot of response here and tried to share what I have learned. I hunted high and low for Swedish Flower hen eggs and that is what I was told. I finally found some in South Caralina and was told this was not a good time for eggs. Of the 10 I ordered, 14 were shipped. Only one of those had an air cell. 4 of those 14 made it to lockdown, the rest either being clear in candling or obviously aborted with a noticeable blood ring. Of the 4 that remained, only one hatched. The last three had fully developed chicks that appeared to have drown in the shell. That's why I did dry incubation on my quail.

On the quail, I bought 39 eggs local and was told the same thing about the time of year. Of course being coturnix Browns and whites they were difficult to see anything growing during candling until lockdown. At that time I discarded anything I could see thru easily. I had also had a friend give me 8 Bobwhite eggs. He has 4 hens and a rooster. When I asked for the eggs, he said they had quit laying but over the next few days he was able to get me the eggs. In all of these, they remained clear and I assumed infertile.

I'm still learning and read all I can. I now have 10 quail that went into outdoor pens yesterday. After I pick up a few more chicks today I will have 5 chickens. Im very excited to have my own eggs to hatch and see how my hatch rate improves. I'm now addicted to hatching eggs. I only hope I find people that will want what I hatch so I don't end up being the bird guy.

I wish you lived closer... I could supply you with eggs, chicks, whatever you needed.

 

[master-feather]

Hi,

Today my 3 female valley quail suddenly died, they seem to be very healthy and happy, i dont know if cold might killed them, they are not directly exposed, maby the males killed them but i didnt see signs of agression in any of them, i did see some liquid excrements, but i don know if it is related, please if somebody can help me i will appreciate it,

Thanks,

Alex.

 

[dc3085]

Hi,

Today my 3 female valley quail suddenly died, they seem to be very healthy and happy, i dont know if cold might killed them, they are not directly exposed, maby the males killed them but i didnt see signs of agression in any of them, i did see some liquid excrements, but i don know if it is related, please if somebody can help me i will appreciate it,

Thanks,

Alex.

Unless you are running a heat lamp and turned it off on them, cold didn't kill them. The Majority of places that valley quail live experience freezing temps and they are hardy to temps down below zero. Remember even though they're called valley quail they still populate the Sierra Nevada mountains although typically they stay below the snow line. They are well adapted to cold weather.

Liquid feces could have been a symptom of an illness but with no live, sick birds won't help much now. Did you notice anything else about them before they died? Raspy breath or rattling sounds in their lungs? Could they have flushed and hit their heads on the ceiling? How do their vents look? If you have chickens you must wash your hands and equipment before handling your quail or disease can be transferred from them.

 

[master-feather]

Thank you very much for your help, i didnt notice any signs of desease except for the liquid feces, i checked the throaghts and vents of the dead birds and there were no signs of illness, it must have been some kind of sudden death, i didnt thought about the killing themself by hitting the roof, and that might be a good answer for what happened, they only have about 15 inch heigth but that might be enough to kill them.

Thanks, again, if you have any other toughts about what might have happened please let me know!