I have 8 chinese painted quail eggs in my incubator. They came from a quail hen who had too many eggs to sit on, so i put 5 in the incubator, and a few days later the other 3 because she left them go cold during the night. They have been in the incubator for over a week now, at first i thought they only needed a couple of days to hatch, but appearantly they needed more time. Three days ago i candled them and they were all black with a round air pocket on the round end, they looked ready to hatch, but still no pips. Yesterday i thought they were al dead so i water candled them quickly, but they all definetly moved in the water. How long after the egg appears black( and you can't see through it anymore), should they start to pip? I am becoming so worried Could someone please give me some advice maybe? Thanks!
By day 15 you may see all black in the egg as the chick and it's yolk take up all the space. Sounds like your quail eggs may just need some more time Good luck!