Thoughts on dry incubating quails and chickens together ?

[ivy_huan]

I'm looking for some thoughts or experience on hatching quails and chickens together using dry incubating method

My plan is to put quails and chicken eggs in at the same time so quails will hatch before chickens going in lockdown

My only concern is raising humidity on day 15 for quails . Will that drown the chicks ? I'm thinking it should be okay since it's only 3 days
But would like some experience and thoughts from you guys

Thank you

 

[MottsHomestead]

I'm looking for some thoughts or experience on hatching quails and chickens together using dry incubating method

My plan is to put quails and chicken eggs in at the same time so quails will hatch before chickens going in lockdown

My only concern is raising humidity on day 15 for quails . Will that drown the chicks ? I'm thinking it should be okay since it's only 3 days
But would like some experience and thoughts from you guys

Thank you

The only thing you have to be careful with is the humidity during lockdown. The younger eggs can get "sticky" if the humidity is too high for them, and it can cause liquid to build up in the air cell. And then when they internally pip, all of that fluid drains into the egg and drowns them. So you have to watch that it doesn't get too high. But if you only raise the humidity when you see the first internal pip, and then lower it back down as soon as the last chick hatches, you should be fine. Depending on where you are, you may need to keep it below 65% until they externally pip, then when they do you can up it to around 70%.
(Sidenote, when it is dry we have had trouble with birds failing to hatch when the humidity is below 70%, so we really try to keep it there when they are actively hatching. But when it is really humid we have not needed to add any water at all.)

It has a learning curve, and is all very dependent on your individual incubator, climate, and situation.

 

[ivy_huan]

The only thing you have to be careful with is the humidity during lockdown. The younger eggs can get "sticky" if the humidity is too high for them, and it can cause liquid to build up in the air cell. And then when they internally pip, all of that fluid drains into the egg and drowns them. So you have to watch that it doesn't get too high. But if you only raise the humidity when you see the first internal pip, and then lower it back down as soon as the last chick hatches, you should be fine. Depending on where you are, you may need to keep it below 65% until they externally pip, then when they do you can up it to around 70%.
(Sidenote, when it is dry we have had trouble with birds failing to hatch when the humidity is below 70%, so we really try to keep it there when they are actively hatching. But when it is really humid we have not needed to add any water at all.)

It has a learning curve, and is all very dependent on your individual incubator, climate, and situation.

Thank you for your response.
I'm thinking about keeping the quail eggs lockdown at 60 ish so it is not too hard on the chickens eggs. I have read that some ppl don't increase the humidity at all during the whole process. I'm wondering how does that work. Since hens don't really add humidity to the eggs during hatching
I would imagine the humidity won't effect the eggs that much during lockdown as it basically just go into lockdown a couple of days earlier like you have an early hatcher and some hatches out late.

 

[MottsHomestead]

Thank you for your response.
I'm thinking about keeping the quail eggs lockdown at 60 ish so it is not too hard on the chickens eggs. I have read that some ppl don't increase the humidity at all during the whole process. I'm wondering how does that work. Since hens don't really add humidity to the eggs during hatching
I would imagine the humidity won't effect the eggs that much during lockdown as it basically just go into lockdown a couple of days earlier like you have an early hatcher and some hatches out late.

If you live in a humid area that should be fine. But if you are in a more dry area I would just keep a close eye on them if you only raise it to 60. Quail membranes tend to be very thick, and without enough humidity the chicks may not be able to break through.

 

[ivy_huan]

i live in newfoundland, its an island so i assume its a little humid here
i can increase the humidity a little high, will it be okay for the chickens if i increase the humidity 3 days before lockdown for the chickens ?