Unusual quail hatch

[turningchicken]

My son in law is fairly new to hatching coturnix quail. His incubator was full of 89 that had made it to lockdown. By the end of day 19 there were too many fluffy little babies to count so he took them to the brooder...all 73 of them. After reading much about shrink wrapping and finding no more pips, he tossed the remaining eggs in a compost bucket. 36 hours later his son walked by the bucket and heard chirping. 3 babies had hatched!!! No heat was monitored and humidity certainly wasn't.
I guess my question is, are we so sure about shrink wrapping?

 

[NinjaGamer2022]

Maybe the quails were stronger than your average quail chick? I have experienced shrink wrapping in Coturnix Quail and helped it hatch.

 

[turningchicken]

Maybe the quails were stronger than your average quail chick? I have experienced shrink wrapping in Coturnix Quail and helped it hatch.

I have as well. I was amazed at the length of time, but the I can't be sure how long they had been hatched.
His quail have just really gotten into a regular laying pattern so I guess I was surprised they were so strong. He has gotten several soft shell and 2 double yolks.

 

[NinjaGamer2022]

I have as well. I was amazed at the length of time, but the I can't be sure how long they had been hatched.
His quail have just really gotten into a regular laying pattern so I guess I was surprised they were so strong. He has gotten several soft shell and 2 double yolks.

How young are they? Mine are young and get soft shell and double yolk as well. I've heard soft shell can be from lack of calcium, and/or super layers laying a bit too much sometimes.

 

[Nabiki]

Shrink wrapping is a real thing, but you don't have to be super paranoid about opening the incubator. I take chicks out as soon as they're dry. Don't leave the incubator open for long, and the humidity goes back up quickly enough that the rest of the eggs are usually fine.

 

[turningchicken]

How young are they? Mine are young and get soft shell and double yolk as well. I've heard soft shell can be from lack of calcium, and/or super layers laying a bit too much sometime

Shrink wrapping is a real thing, but you don't have to be super paranoid about opening the incubator. I take chicks out as soon as they're dry. Don't leave the incubator open for long, and the humidity goes back up quickly enough that the rest of the eggs are usually fine.

Thank you for that reply. And I guess paranoid is the word that I have been. These birds have only been laying for about 6 weeks. We have another 72 that have started to hatch tonight so I'm anxious to see how this goes. I did read that it was okay to take the dried off chicks out about every 12 hours if you could do it fast enough. I think he will try that with this hatch.

 

[turningchicken]

How young are they? Mine are young and get soft shell and double yolk as well. I've heard soft shell can be from lack of calcium, and/or super layers laying a bit too much sometime

 

[turningchicken]

They have been laying since mid July but have just recently become consistent.