The quail incubation +HELP ME.

[Quail1994]

Hi.

I read about dry incubation just now,a few threads back.

I want to know if I can dry incubate my coturnix quail eggs to(between 20% and 30% or even lower than 20) for the,let's say first 14 days??

Or should I stick with between 40% and 50% the first 14 days and then 60% the last 4 days?

I'm asking this,because I don't like the whole spongies and water bowls and papertowls and whatever wet stuff you put in the incubator to raise the humidity.(Mine is a cheap homemade coolerbox bator)

What's the most sucesful?

Note:I currently store my eggs in a humidity of 70% till saturday when the big number of 50 eggs go in for the first time.

Thanks

 

[scatteredeggs]

"I'm asking this,because I don't like the whole spongies and water bowls and papertowls and whatever wet stuff you put in the incubator to raise the humidity.(Mine is a cheap homemade coolerbox bator)"

same here - with the cooler-bator. i have stryfoam bator.

if it's "whole spongies and water bowls and papertowls" you don't like, i hv 2 quarts mason jars filled with water serving as heat sinks. one is capless to keep humidity to 50%, the other closed. i hv an aluminum baking pan, and tubing, to be filled up later with water during lockdown to bring humidity to 70%.

imho, regardless whether you're doing dry or wet incubation, you have to deal with the water issues. it's a matter of how to you do it in the less stressful way.
in addition, during lockdown, if you have to open the incubator for emergency purposes, humidity will drop and it is not good. in my case, i had at least 2 eggs that pipped but did not zip. i guess they dried out int the process.


altho i have read threads about dry incubation and its good hatch rate. check out chookschick's page, her signature for a link. she said ignore humidity during incubation but bring it to 70% during lockdown. she swears by this (her) method.

(my impression is that regardless of incubation, during lockdown/hatching, humidity should be 70% at least. I let the experts/more experienced BYC hatchers correct me if i'm wrong)