The Great SI (Shape index) experiment

[Sara L]

Ok, so had a coupon and got the digital calipers for only $9.99 with tax. I just got done measuring all my eggs and doing the calculations and I think I will have a lot of boys again...lol. All of my measurements are in MM. I put all my measurements in excel to calculate the SI and then took the average and median. If the SI was lower than the average I think it will be a boy and if higher than the average I think it will be a girl. Did I do that correctly?

There are 12 Coturnix eggs from my Italian Coturnix group (one male + 3 females) and 12 Coturnix eggs from my mixed Coturnix group (Traditional color male + Silver/white color female + red color female). There are 3 Button Quail eggs (King Quail/Chinese Painted Quail) in the incubator and I was able to measure 6 additional eggs from the same pair of birds.

I have hatch boxes that I have used successfully before so I am fairly confident I can keep the newly hatched chicks separated. I have multiple brooder setups as well as leg bands to keep the chicks separate outside the hatcher. I will be moving the eggs into the hatch boxes and adding water to start lockdown later tonight.

I am a little worried about the air cells - I normally incubate dry and don't add any water at all until lockdown. The digital hygrometer says the incubator has been between 16-20% humidity the whole time. I usually don't candle the eggs because they are so hard to see into but this time I candled on Day 10 and marked the air cells on the eggs I could see into. I marked them again when I measured the eggs and quite a few still have small air cells. Is there anything I can do to try and fix that?

Coturnix eggs group 1

Coturnix eggs group 2

Button Quail eggs

 

[CABINHOLLOWNC]

Ok, so had a coupon and got the digital calipers for only $9.99 with tax. I just got done measuring all my eggs and doing the calculations and I think I will have a lot of boys again...lol. All of my measurements are in MM. I put all my measurements in excel to calculate the SI and then took the average and median. If the SI was lower than the average I think it will be a boy and if higher than the average I think it will be a girl. Did I do that correctly?

There are 12 Coturnix eggs from my Italian Coturnix group (one male + 3 females) and 12 Coturnix eggs from my mixed Coturnix group (Traditional color male + Silver/white color female + red color female). There are 3 Button Quail eggs (King Quail/Chinese Painted Quail) in the incubator and I was able to measure 6 additional eggs from the same pair of birds.

I have hatch boxes that I have used successfully before so I am fairly confident I can keep the newly hatched chicks separated. I have multiple brooder setups as well as leg bands to keep the chicks separate outside the hatcher. I will be moving the eggs into the hatch boxes and adding water to start lockdown later tonight.

I am a little worried about the air cells - I normally incubate dry and don't add any water at all until lockdown. The digital hygrometer says the incubator has been between 16-20% humidity the whole time. I usually don't candle the eggs because they are so hard to see into but this time I candled on Day 10 and marked the air cells on the eggs I could see into. I marked them again when I measured the eggs and quite a few still have small air cells. Is there anything I can do to try and fix that?

Coturnix eggs group 1
View attachment 1350278
Coturnix eggs group 2
View attachment 1350279
Button Quail eggs
View attachment 1350277

I love it when I have a coupon! Your numbers look good to me. As for your air cell issue, not much else you can do if you ran a dry hatch up to lockdown and they are still small. Maybe next time when you incubate and candle move the egg with the small air cells to the location that the ones that had good air cell development were? I'll cross my fingers that your little quail are in a hurry to hatch and will pip quick so the small air cell won't be an issue! Keep us posted!

 

[Nksg75]

I love your spreadsheet!! So organized!!
As far as aircell growth, what day are you on?
Quail take 17 days to hatch correct?

 

[Nksg75]

I love it when I have a coupon! Your numbers look good to me. As for your air cell issue, not much else you can do if you ran a dry hatch up to lockdown and they are still small. Maybe next time when you incubate and candle move the egg with the small air cells to the location that the ones that had good air cell development were? I'll cross my fingers that your little quail are in a hurry to hatch and will pip quick so the small air cell won't be an issue! Keep us posted!

Tina,
How are the CCL eggs doing?
Are they on day 8?

 

[Sara L]

I love your spreadsheet!! So organized!!
As far as aircell growth, what day are you on?
Quail take 17 days to hatch correct?

The Button Quail take 17 days and the Coturnix Quail take 18 days. I started the Button Quail one day after starting the Coturnix Quail so they are all supposed to hatch on the same day. I started the Coturnix eggs on 4/6/18 AM, so day 15 was 4/21/18 and when I started lockdown. I haven't been able to find a chart showing the quail egg air cells but looking at the chicken air cell chart the eggs looked like they were a few days behind where they should be at lockdown. A few of the eggs looked ok but the rest were small.

 

[JaeG]

The Button Quail take 17 days and the Coturnix Quail take 18 days. I started the Button Quail one day after starting the Coturnix Quail so they are all supposed to hatch on the same day. I started the Coturnix eggs on 4/6/18 AM, so day 15 was 4/21/18 and when I started lockdown. I haven't been able to find a chart showing the quail egg air cells but looking at the chicken air cell chart the eggs looked like they were a few days behind where they should be at lockdown. A few of the eggs looked ok but the rest were small.

I've had quail with little air cells and some with huge (in the same batch). They've all hatched just fine - it's amazing how much they draw down just before they internally pip (which is scary when they already have a huge air cell)! I think some of it has to do with the shell thickness. I've also incubated at 80% humidity the whole time and had all the eggs hatch (I'm terrible about staggered hatches). But quail eggs are pretty tough.

Another thing it could be is if the temperature is just a little low - that can hinder the chicks ability to absorb the nutrients/moisture they need to and evaporate off the rest. Temperature is a lot more important than humidity in a small incubator and the margin of error is a lot narrower for temperature than humidity.

 

[CABINHOLLOWNC]

Tina,
How are the CCL eggs doing?
Are they on day 8?

They are on day 9! I'll candle them on day 12 or 15 or somewhere in between those dates...just depends on what I have going on!

 

[Nksg75]

They are on day 9! I'll candle them on day 12 or 15 or somewhere in between those dates...just depends on what I have going on!

Ahh, good to know! I am crossing my fingers that you have both a great hatch, and a all pullet hatch!!

 

[Sara L]

There are babies!!! I must have miscounted what day I was on because I wasn't expecting them until tomorrow. I guess I shouldn't have been so worried about the air cells, they seem to be pipping and zipping just fine. There are at least 7 out and I think a few more were zipping. The one thing about the hatching boxes I don't like is it is very hard to see inside because I made the boxes using plastic canvas. I will take the chicks out tomorrow morning and post some pics.

 

[CABINHOLLOWNC]

Ahh, good to know! I am crossing my fingers that you have both a great hatch, and a all pullet hatch!!

Thanks!!! Me too!!! I'll post an update after I candle them!!