Should I give up?

[cherndon712]

My quail eggs aren't hatching. 3 did 2 days ago, they're on day 20 today.

 

[AussieSharon]

I wouldn't give up. Some quail take 23 to 25 days to hatch. Good luck

 

[cherndon712]

These are button quail, so they're only supposed to take 16 days!!

 

[AussieSharon]

so you're 4 days over then.

 

[cherndon712]

Yeah...

 

[silkiechicken]

Well... I say it is time to take them out and crack them open to see why they didn't hatch. Take pics and document it and you can figure out went wrong where.

 

[PurpleChicken]

Quote:
Silkie, the brilliant scientist, is giving good advice. Something went wrong. Best to
find out before you attempt another.

Oh, attempt another. Everyone has bad hatches.

 

[cherndon712]

When I got them, 4 were cracked and "scrambled" in the shell...I guess I was lucky 3 hatched!!

 

[cherndon712]

I cracked them...7 didn't even develop, and 2 were like this pic.

I could see definate veins, and a black spot.

 

[silkiechicken]

If you look up hamburger and hamilton, you can find chicken stages of development. The pictures there should be similar to what all other birds go though, just in different periods of time. Features on the black spot can tell you how old it really got, as in, how well is the head formed, are there wing buds, leg buds, actual toes, feathers, and so on. Often, if the chick dies before the first week or so, it is due to a developmental or genetic defect. If the egg is scrambled, often it was just never fertile or died within the first day. Blood like we know it and can actually see, starts to form on day 2-3 in chickens, so probably early day 2 for the quail.