Should I incubate shipped quail eggs upright or flat?

[Zombie24]

Hello,

I had an unsuccessful hatch with some shipped quail eggs inside an automatic turning r-com mini. Two were dead in the egg, one looked fully developed but small and the other looked fully developed and ready to hatch which was sad. I've read that it's common for shipped eggs to die during lockdown. I have 3 more in the incubator, though I believe these to be dead as well but I'm going to leave them because I've got nothing to lose and they might be okay.

I've since bought a Brinsea automatic mini incubator and a new load of shipped quail eggs. Four came from one seller, annoyingly all of which have detached rolling air cells. I've read that these won't hatch, I don't know whether to try anyway. One was lightly cracked, I sealed the crack with melted wax. I have ten from another seller which were packaged better although one was cracked badly, I binned it. Six have saddled air cells, one is saddled and slightly detached. Two look good with small, clean and round air cells.

I can't make up my mind on whether to incubate them upright in cartons or to let the automatic turner turn them. I've read people suggesting different things... Or should I turn the automatic turner off and rotate them gentler myself. Also, with detached air cells, I've read that people suggest not turning them at all for the first few days. I think they said four, however, this was for chicken eggs and I assume it would be different for quail.



Thank you for any help, I really appreciate it!

 

[Zombie24]

To my surprise, I think I can see a pip in one of the three remaining eggs and another started rocking lightly.

 

[JaeG]

Some people have success with one method, others do it differently so there's no definitive answer. I do know that turning in those first few days is very important for the formation of the extra embryonic membranes as explained in this article:
https://thepoultrysite.com/articles/the-biology-behind-egg-turning

With my shipped eggs I now let them settle for 6 hours (they usually take 4 days to get to me as I live rurally) because they are probably at least a week old by the time they arrive. Then I lay them on their side, detatched air cell or not, and turn them manually as many times as I remember to do so a day. I tried the upright method initially, tilting them only slightly for the first few days to try and help the air cells settle, but none of those eggs hatched. It wasn't necessarily the method that caused that though. It could have been the shipping stress.

I haven't had a huge amount of luck with shipped eggs, but my latest batch seems to be doing ok. My last batch of chicken eggs I hatched 11 out of 12 eggs that we picked up, but only 3 out of 8 eggs that were shipped, so it was interesting to see the difference shipping made. I've tried again from the place I'd got the 8 from, ordering 12 this time to ensure I had a few birds to choose from in the end, and so far only 2 eggs have died. It's day 13 today, so it'll be interesting to see what hatches out in just over a week.

 

[Zombie24]

Thank you for your reply JaeG.

I think I'm going to lay them all flat except for the ones with the rolling air cells, I'll put them upright though I don't believe these have much of a chance anyway. I'm still unsure whether to turn the eggs manually or use the automatic turner. I'm away at work for 8 hours a day so I don't know whether they'll be okay being unturned for 8 hours plus the 7/8 hours at night. I guess I could turn them in the middle of the night once...

I hope you have better luck with your second lot of shipped eggs! ☺

 

[Chookwagn]

Some people have success with one method, others do it differently so there's no definitive answer. I do know that turning in those first few days is very important for the formation of the extra embryonic membranes as explained in this article:
https://thepoultrysite.com/articles/the-biology-behind-egg-turning

With my shipped eggs I now let them settle for 6 hours (they usually take 4 days to get to me as I live rurally) because they are probably at least a week old by the time they arrive. Then I lay them on their side, detatched air cell or not, and turn them manually as many times as I remember to do so a day. I tried the upright method initially, tilting them only slightly for the first few days to try and help the air cells settle, but none of those eggs hatched. It wasn't necessarily the method that caused that though. It could have been the shipping stress.

I haven't had a huge amount of luck with shipped eggs, but my latest batch seems to be doing ok. My last batch of chicken eggs I hatched 11 out of 12 eggs that we picked up, but only 3 out of 8 eggs that were shipped, so it was interesting to see the difference shipping made. I've tried again from the place I'd got the 8 from, ordering 12 this time to ensure I had a few birds to choose from in the end, and so far only 2 eggs have died. It's day 13 today, so it'll be interesting to see what hatches out in just over a week.

Hi JaeG

be interested to know where you are getting your eggs from and what breeds you are getting.... if you are happy to share? im thinking of getting some eggs shipped to me but wondering if its worth it

 

[JaeG]

Hi JaeG

be interested to know where you are getting your eggs from and what breeds you are getting.... if you are happy to share? im thinking of getting some eggs shipped to me but wondering if its worth it

I've been hatching Araucanas. They are so cute. The shipped ones came from Dunedin and I'm up near Dargaville in Northland, so I'm thankful something hatched.

It really is a bit of a toss up as to what kind of a trip your eggs will have to you. Everyone here sends them in egg cartons, but from what I've read on BYC that isn't ideal as it gives the eggs something solid to impact with, rather than being surrounded in something that's going to absorb some of the shock of being shifted around.

The first chicken eggs I tried (after hatching many quail and some Muscovy eggs) were some Waipahi eggs from the lady down in Invercargill. The first 6 I tried arrived very quickly, but only one made it to lockdown and it was malpositioned with its head between its thighs, so the poor thing had no hope of surviving. That was a big blow to my confidence I have to say. I did try again from her but she forgot about me and when I enquired as to where my eggs were it must've jogged her memory, but instead of being honest and telling me that she sent them on a Friday, and the eggs ended up taking 10 days to get to me. Miraculously 2 out of the 6 hatched, a little pullet and a cockerel. The pullet is the sweetest thing and loves to be held and cuddled. The cockerel is going to be a handsome boy and he's friendly but doesn't want to be fussed over.

The Araucanas I got shipped were from the TradeMe member "bobwoodman" and their packaging was better than the Waipahi.

What are you thinking of hatching?

 

[JaeG]

Thank you for your reply JaeG.

I think I'm going to lay them all flat except for the ones with the rolling air cells, I'll put them upright though I don't believe these have much of a chance anyway. I'm still unsure whether to turn the eggs manually or use the automatic turner. I'm away at work for 8 hours a day so I don't know whether they'll be okay being unturned for 8 hours plus the 7/8 hours at night. I guess I could turn them in the middle of the night once...

I hope you have better luck with your second lot of shipped eggs! ☺

Thank you. I'm glad your remaining eggs are looking hopeful.

I'm not sure if it makes too much difference between manual turning or letting your incubator do it (mine is very basic and doesn't have that feature. ) so if you will be away for the majority of the day I'd turn your turner on. I have to admit to the odd egg slipping as I've turned it and receiving a bit of a bump but it doesn't seem to have had a negative impact on them, as terrible as I feel when it happens, so I'm not sure I'm more gentle than an automatic turner.

 

[Chookwagn]

I tried hatching some Pekin bantam eggs last summer from a lady in Dunedin and I only hatched 2 out of 12..... at that stage I wasnt checking the air cells before putting in incubator, so probably my fault... I have brought eggs from bobwoodman before but I picked them up when I was travelling down there.

Im looking for Leghorn eggs and they all seem to be in the North Is ......?

Last time I was in HawkesBay I picked up some eggs and brought them back with me on the plane... I got 4 out of 8 from that lot

 

[BDutch]

I haven’t any experiences on shipped eggs myself but I know a breeder who ships eggs and been reading about it on a Dutch chicken forum. I don’t know if this would be different for quail.

They say , for good results:

• Only send fresh eggs - no older then 1 week
• The collected eggs can be stored with the air-cell not down, in egg boxes that are a bit too large. and should be turned a little once a day.
• Pack the fertile eggs in larger egg boxes than the size of the eggs. And first wrap the eggs in soft toilet paper so the eggs are secured and safe in the egg box.
• Then put soft toilet paper , air cells or another anti-bump material around the egg boxes before you put them in the shipping box . Put ‘this side up’ and ‘breakable’ on the box so the postman are carefull and the eggs are not shaken too much.
• Send it with priority to other countries/states to minimise the shipping time
• Only ship eggs if the outside temperature is above freezing and below 20C (normal room temparature)
• If the eggs arrive , let them rest for approx 24 hours before putting them in the incubator or under a broody.

I have only picked up eggs once, over 100km away from where I live. It was quit warm that day >25C and the eggs where not packed as described above. But I did handle them carefully. I had very poor results under 2 broodies. Only 4 started to develop, and 3 out of 12 hatched.

 

[Zombie24]

Thank you BDutch. I was thinking about selling hatching eggs in the future so that's super helpful info.