tips for first incubation?

[TriciaB]

I will be getting 30 eggs and a few adult coturnix quail friday from a local. Getting the adults as I doubt I will get many from my first incubation attempt. Anyway I have a Little Giant Still air incubator, no egg turner.  How do I know if the humidity is right?? Thats really the one thing I am worried about.
Also what colorization would "white with black spots" be?

 

[James the Bald]

I used to work for "tips". The only tip I can offer is to go to the store and pick up a digital thermostat that has a built in humidity gauge.
Welcome to the Quail forum on BYC and good luck with your hatch.
James

 

[TriciaB]

I used to work for "tips".  The only tip I can offer is to go to the store and pick up a digital thermostat that has a built in humidity gauge.
Welcome to the Quail forum on BYC and good luck with your hatch.
James

thanks! That seems like the only way I will know if I get it right. Hoping for atleast one or two to hatch

 

[TwoCrows]

Some people weigh their eggs on their first attempt at hatching, so that on the second attempt, they know what humidity or close proximity works well. And egg should lose about 12% or so of weight from start to finish. And humidity is a huge factor that controls the weight. You want it too lose enough so that the air cell at the top of the egg grows enough so at the end, there is that breathing space when the chick breaks thru the inner membrane to breath in this cell. If the egg does not lose enough weight, then this air cell may be non existent.

All this being said, not enough humidity and the air cell grows too big and dehydrates the chick. Too much humidity and the air cell does not grow at all, and the chick can drown. Of course all sorts of other issues can happen when the humidity is way off in either direction.

You can also use the candling method. Here is a diagram of how the air cell should grow through the entire process....

This is a chicken egg, however it works the same with quail. Now, do not panic if your eggs do not hold to this standard. I have had chicks hatch with smaller air cells and no where close to this diagram. But this gives you an idea what you are looking to do with your humidity.

Just try to keep the humidity somewhere in the 50% range during incubation and then at lock down, get the humidity up around 70%. Generally it is about 15% higher at lock down than it was during incubation.

Hope this helps and good luck with your hatch!

 

[TriciaB]

What is a good food brand for them? Not wanting any Genetically modified ingredients...

 

[TwoCrows]

It is hard to find non GMO foods for quail. We don't have anything available around here other than purina or manna pro brands. Do some research here on line and in your area. If by chance a feed store near you carries such products....or you might make your own feed. Difficult, but not impossible.

 

[GhislaineDel]

Turkey starter is often recommended so if you can find an organic one it should be GMO free.

I've got a hatch happening right now (check out my thread for a quail cam). I found that the humidity gauge I have is off by quite a bit so I ended up just trusting the incubator instructions to work out.

 

[TriciaB]

Just got to thinking last night, I know you have to roll eggs but since I dont have rails do I put them on their sides? Or do I find a way to keep them upright? And if I have them on their sides will they still pip at the airsac? Its only two more days before I get them so im getting anxious lol

 

[1000yearoldeggs]

I just recently had my first hatch and had them on their sides, they pipped without a problem. I know some people keep them in a quail egg carton, pointy end down, and just lean the whole carton to either side to turn them. Then I think some take them out of the carton and put them on their sides at lockdown anyway.

I think it's just preference, try looking at some other threads and work out what you want to do. I didn't have a quail egg carton, so I just put mine on their sides. I had a terrible hatch, but the ones that pipped did so correctly. I don't think my incubation techniques were the reason I had a bad hatch, I think it's because some eggs weren't fertile, and maybe I was just unlucky. I hope you have a better hatch than me. Good luck!

 

[James the Bald]

I just recently had my first hatch and had them on their sides, they pipped without a problem. I know some people keep them in a quail egg carton, pointy end down, and just lean the whole carton to either side to turn them. Then I think some take them out of the carton and put them on their sides at lockdown anyway.

Here is a link that you may find useful. If you plan on incubating more eggs (and you will want to), you may want to consider purchasing an egg turner with quail rails.
James