Should I assist the quail eggs? Pipped for 12 hours, no signs of life.

In case you need to know (I did), I just copied this onto a word doc so I can print it, but the BYC link is attached:

Calibrating Hygrometer

AuthorDipsy Doodle Doo

Publish dateJan 11, 2012

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/calibrating-hygrometer.50678/



Summary of Steps to Calibrate a Hygrometer

You will need:
- 1/2 cup table salt
- approximately 1/4 cup water
- coffee cup
- hygrometer
- large re-sealable freezer bag

1. Place 1/2 cup of salt in the coffee cup, and add the water. Stir for a bit to totally saturate the salt (the salt won't dissolve, it will be more like really wet sand).

2. Place the salt/water mix in a re-sealable plastic bag, along with the hygrometer, and seal the bag. Note: make sure none of the salt/water mix comes in direct contact with the hygrometer.

3. Set this bag aside at room temperature for 8-12 hours, in a location where the temperature is fairly constant.

4. After 8-12 hours, check the reading of the hygrometer. It is best to read it while still in the bag.
The relative humidity in the sealed bag with the salt/water mix should be 75 percent.

5. For adjustable hygrometers, adjust to read 75 percent. You will have to do this very quickly, or remember how much you need to adjust the setting.

If yours is not adjustable, simply make a note of how "off" your
hygrometer reads. If it reads below 75 percent, you will need to add the difference to your actual readings. If your hygrometer read above 75 percent on the calibration, you will need to subtract the difference from your actual reading.

In my example: after sitting in the bag, my hygrometer read 72 percent, when it should have read 75 percent -- a difference of 3 percent. I now add 3 percent to the readings I take on the hygrometer to get the actual relative humidity.
Remember: always give a hygrometer about 2 hours to stabilize before taking a reading, as changes in the relative humidity may take a while to register accurately on a hygrometer.

©2008 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company.
All rights reserved.
 
I run my incubator with 0 water and my humidity stays at around 20% and I only bump it to about 40% hatch time.

I've been doing the same for years now, no water added until hatch time. I get much better hatches that way.
 
Here's another article: https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...incubator-thermometers-and-hygrometers.73634/
Neither really specify whether one or more can/should go into the bag. But this one shows a picture of multiple thermometers in the same container. If you think about it, it makes sense to put all of them into the same bag, that way you can see if they all read the same thing. Since they are all in the exact same environment seeing any differences in the readings means there is an obvious issue and you can record that difference on each device like she did with her candy thermometer.
 
I'm worried the chicks in there are stuck/need help, I noticed the pip at around 11 this morning, but I have no idea how long it had been like that. Theres a chick that hatched at around 2pm today, pretty soon after we noticed his pip at 11. The other 2 haven't moved, cheeped or pipped any more than when I first noticed them. Should I poke a hole in there tonight or tomorrow to give them some strength back? I plan on moving the hatched chick to the brooder in the morning. Should I wait till then? Or just not touch them? I really want more babies :hit
I am a meddler, and I will assist, but not before it's been pipped for over 24 hours. Be aware that if you do choose to assist, you will probably have to cull the chick anyways.

There's no way 50 is too high, they're coturnix eggs on lockdown. Everything i've read says they should be 55 or higher. Is 80 really too high? What happens when humidity is too high? Should I do the float test?
80 is definitely too high. Personally, I get the best hatch rates at about 30% humidity during incubation and about 40-55% humidity after they pip.

I run my incubator with 0 water and my humidity stays at around 20% and I only bump it to about 40% hatch time.
@Kiki is the queen of hatches. Listen to her advice.

I think that she lives in an area that gets a lot more humidity than I do, which is why my slightly higher humidity works for me.
 
I made a breathing hole and cracked the egg a little bit at 11:45am. Then I went back and did this every two hours until now (3pm), since he was not moving or trying to get out. I didn’t pick off any membrane, just cracked shell around it and took some off. He’s obviously breathing in the video, but why isn’t he trying to hatch? Is he tired? Is he not ready to hatch? Undeveloped at all? If he is just tired or stuck from a hardened membrane, I will gently help him hatch. But please let me know if this is normal behavior, and he’s just not ready to hatch yet

 
I made a breathing hole and cracked the egg a little bit at 11:45am. Then I went back and did this every two hours until now (3pm), since he was not moving or trying to get out. I didn’t pick off any membrane, just cracked shell around it and took some off. He’s obviously breathing in the video, but why isn’t he trying to hatch? Is he tired? Is he not ready to hatch? Undeveloped at all? If he is just tired or stuck from a hardened membrane, I will gently help him hatch. But please let me know if this is normal behavior, and he’s just not ready to hatch yet

If it's definitely breathing but not trying to break out, then it's not ready to hatch. Leave it alone.
 

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