Something Positive to Ask

[007Sean]

This is really helpful information. I will look for your recommended thermometer/hygrometer shortly. It appears my first hatch will be around 50%, which I have seen others say is very low. I started this for my kids but I am finding I enjoy it very much. The birds are not pets, I love quail eggs and as a hunter I have always enjoyed the meat.

If they were shipped eggs....that's pretty much standard, or at least from my experince with shipped eggs 50% is good, sometimes it's lower, other times I've had 100% hatch, although those times have been few and far between....everyone seems to fixate on "hatch rate", what you should be looking at is "fertility"....I don't care how careful you are in your incubation pratices, if the egg is not fertile, it ain't gonna hatch! Also, most peeps don't figure their "true" hatch rate correctly, in the first place.

 

[Smuvers Farm]

Oh my goodness 007 Sean! That is a lot to digest. Thank you. I struggled early with the temp inside, it was always too hot, so I throttled back on day 3. This is really very helpful. I have always heard that incubating is a science. I can't wait to try it again.

That's our Sean! Always full of it!!!... information I mean.

 

[2 E's farm]

If they were shipped eggs....that's pretty much standard, or at least from my experince with shipped eggs 50% is good, sometimes it's lower, other times I've had 100% hatch, although those times have been few and far between....everyone seems to fixate on "hatch rate", what you should be looking at is "fertility"....I don't care how careful you are in your incubation pratices, if the egg is not fertile, it ain't gonna hatch! Also, most peeps don't figure their "true" hatch rate correctly, in the first place.

Sorry to even have to ask this but is it possible that many of my shipped eggs were not fertile?

 

[Fishkeeper]

If you candle them and there's nothing going on inside, i.e. they're "clear", they weren't fertile. The only way to tell is to candle them after a week or so when they should be developing, or to break them open and carefully inspect the inside.

 

[007Sean]

That's our Sean! Always full of it!!!... information I mean.

Sorry I give lengthy answers but if "someones" asked the question, I think it is the duty of "whoever" responds, to give an accurate and complete answer!

 

[mdees88]

I was reading something that said shipping (x-ray, extreme temps, violent handling) can actually kill some of the embryos. This means they would never start to develop. So when you candle at day 7/14 the egg would appear as if it was infertile.

A shipper said some of his customers were reporting very low "fertility" with his eggs but everytime he hatched his own to verify he was showing very high fertility....

 

[007Sean]

I was reading something that said shipping (x-ray, extreme temps, violent handling) can actually kill some of the embryos. This means they would never start to develop. So when you candle at day 7/14 the egg would appear as if it was infertile.

A shipper said some of his customers were reporting very low "fertility" with his eggs but everytime he hatched his own to verify he was showing very high fertility....

That's true, the eggs not going through rough handling definitely helps, also the amount of time the eggs are held before their shipped, play a huge role in fertility or should be expressed as viability but if the eggs are not fertile there is no way they will hatch in the first place. Buying shipped eggs is a very risky business.