Wondering if there is even a chance of survival

[kbennett87]

I am doing my first attempt at hatching with a homemade incubator. We are on day 19 of incubation of 14 bobwhite quail eggs. The first half of the incubation went really well and we had steady temps. However we had a few days in the middle where the incubator just seemed completely out of whack. The temperature would dip down to the low 90's and then after adjustment soar to 105. I am wondering if there is any chance that even one of these guys survived. Is 19 days too early to float test? My son has been very involved with these guys and I have prepared him that they might not hatch but I am eager to know if we are going to have any luck. If not we clearly need to get the boy a new Easter present. Fingers crossed but I am not very hopeful. Any advice?

 

[kenazzo2000]

candel them you should be able to see them with a good torch

 

[kbennett87]

Sorry I am really new to this, what should I look for when candling an egg at this stage? I tried candling them a week ago and couldn't really see anything very well but maybe i need a better light source.

 

[kenazzo2000]

I use a brinsea torch you can see them well bobwhites are easier to see thru

 

[kbennett87]

Ok so i tried and i still could not see anything. not sure if this is my untrained eye or untrained hand. So i did a float test and none of them sank or had more than the tip of the shell above water. According to the posts i have read about the float test, this should be a good sign, right? i know it is too much to hope for that they all survived but maybe then we will get at least one?! fingers crossed!!

 

[TwoCrows]

If this is day 19, you should be in lock down tomorrow. As long as these temp swings did not last longer than a few hours, then you might be ok. When you candle Bob eggs, at this point, all you should see is the air cell. The entire body of the egg should be too dense to see thru as the chick will be filling out all but the air cell at the top of the egg.

At lock down tomorrow, up your humidity 10% more than you incubated with, or 65% or 70% humidity. Add a wet sponge if you have to, to raise the humidity. Open all vents wide open to let in as much oxygen as possible. Don't mess with the eggs after today. Bobs generally hatch at or around 23 days, but can wait till day 25 or even 26 if the incubation temp was low.

Have the brooder ready and start the babies at 97 degrees. Bobs need more heat than other baby quail. Bobs are very susceptible to chilling. So use a brooder with solid walls and flooring. Don't cover the lid of the brooder with anything but screen or wire for good oxygen and heat exchange. If you have a red or an infra red bulb, it is best used with Bobs to keep them calm and prevent cannibalism. Also the infra red allows for a normal sleeping pattern.

Use a chick waterer or put marbles or tiny stones in the water base so the babies don't fall in and drown. (Quail fall in really easily and do drown). Put down paper towels and sprinkle gamebird starter food all around the feeder area on the floor of the brooder so they can find the feed. In a few days, when they figure out where the feed is kept, you can remove the paper towels. Dip the babies beaks in the water when you are first putting them in the brooder so they know where the water is kept as well.

Keep both the water and feed off to one side, and the heat source on the other side so they have to step out from the heat to eat and drink.

Lower the temp by 5 degrees each week until they are 6 weeks old. If they start fighting in the brooder, give them more space and lower the heat a few degrees to chill them down a bit.

Bobs can be sexed at 12 weeks and are fully mature at about 6 months.

 

[kbennett87]

Wow! that is a lot of great information, Thank you so much! So you think that there is still hope of having a hatch? So as they hatch I should move them individually to my brooder? I am so excited to see them but nervous to touch them. Other than 2 holes in the Styrofoam i don't have any vents in my incubator, should i open the lid slightly and turn up the heat source to compensate? Sorry for all the (presumably dumb) questions, I would just like to give the little dudes their best shot.

 

[PNE443]

Hiya I've just had my first hatch of quail eggs. I'm not an expert by any means but it was just to say I felt like you did as my incubator is homemade and we had a couple of temperature swings like you have but out of 30 of our eggs 10 have hatched. The rest had died at various different stages of development. I had lost all hope of one hatching and was even debating giving up. My daughter looked in the incubator and said calmly did you know there is a chick running around in there! I had only just looked about 15 minutes earlier and there was nothing. So don't give up yet and as for candling and float testing I would just sit on your hands for now and let nature take its course. I know its really hard but I think I did more harm than good to a couple of the eggs and may even have killed a couple by float testing them. Some of our chicks burst out of the shells within 5-10 minutes and others took well over 24 hours past the first dent they made outwards. So try to stay positive and wait just a bit longer.

When ours hatched we left them in the incubator for 24 hours and then moved them when they were nice and fluffy. They were in a styrofoam incubator which only has a few holes in the sides but they were all fine. I wouldnt open the lid in case it effects humidity and the chicks catch a chill. We lost one after moving it too quickly and I think it just got too cold. I was so mad with myself for being too impatient and moving it too early.

Hope they all hatch for you and good luck!

 

[TwoCrows]

Wow! that is a lot of great information, Thank you so much! So you think that there is still hope of having a hatch? So as they hatch I should move them individually to my brooder? I am so excited to see them but nervous to touch them. Other than 2 holes in the Styrofoam i don't have any vents in my incubator, should i open the lid slightly and turn up the heat source to compensate? Sorry for all the (presumably dumb) questions, I would just like to give the little dudes their best shot.

All you can do is wait at this point. When all seems lost, you just might see an egg rocking and the chick starting to zip out of the egg. LOL Don't open the lid during lock down. If these two holes are large enough, then they should be fine. You will find all this out afterwards, as if they hatch or not. If they do hatch, leave them in the incubator til they are fully dry. Try to get them out on the same day of the hatch. But if others are not hatched yet, be careful opening the incubator and letting out the humidity.

If they do not hatch, then the best thing you can do is open up a few eggs to see what happened inside the eggs. It will tell you where you may have gone wrong with the hatch.

Good luck and I hope they start popping out soon!

 

[kbennett87]

Ok so we are at day 22 and still no movement or pips. The next 4 days are going to be so long. I imagine the waiting gets better with future hatches once you are confident that you didn't completely screw it up. I keep staring at them, willing them to move haha Not giving up hope yet! They don't smell bad which is a good sign right? I'll post pics if/when they hatch. And just wante to say all of you quail people seem like some of the nicest and most neighborly people out there. Very Refreshing!