When is the earliest I should move my chicks to brooder?

[Jenni B]

Hi, I'm new here. I'm in the middle of my first hatch and I'm wondering about moving my chicks to the brooder. I've got 30+ cotunix quail eggs in the incubator and three have hatched (day 17), today around 3pm, 4pm, 5pm. It's 10:45pm and they are still wet, is this normal? When should I move them to incubator, I've read 24 hours but I had one chick hatch early, day 16 and I waited until morning (not sure when it hatched) but it was still wet and dead in the morning. I've got my humidity at 65%. Anyway, would love some advice. Is it okay to move them in the morning even if they are still wet (we are leaving for church in the morning and I don't want to wait until we get home to move them).

Thanks for your help!

 

[deerman]

Best to wait till they are dry....about 24 hrs. but little longer will not hurt. They need the rest ,after hatching too.