Quail eggs

[Seal36]

First of all thank you for the drinkers. I have the brinsea disinfectant and have disenfected the incubator now. Thanks for telling me to fill the pots up 3/4 full. I have attached pictures of the eggs and the incubator with the j cloth in.

1. Is the brooder warm enough for them at 36.5c
2. Should I disenfect the eggs as well?
3. Can I disinfect the brooder as well?
4. Does the j cloth need to go all the way around or is it ok the way it is?

Again thanks for all the help from Tom

 

[Marigold]

Inci should be 37.5, not 36.5. Don't disinfect the eggs, getting them wet may transfer bacteria through their porous shells. Get the cloth to cover the whole surface or they may get stuck on the slippery part. Yes disinfect the brooder as well.

 

[Seal36]

The incubator is at 37.5 I was asking if the brooder would be ok at 36.5. I will cover the rest of the incubator with the blue cloth. I have made up a disinfectant spray.

1. The humidity is between 32-35% in the incubator is that an ok humidity

Thanks for all the help from Tom

 

[Seal36]

Should I draw a x and o on the eggs or one egg to make sure they are turning or should I not bother from Tom

 

[Seal36]

The humidity has now dropped to 27% is that ok or should I do something about it and if so what from Tom

 

[Marigold]

No need to draw in the eggs, they will roll OK! Humidity will be fine in the inci. Ideally the brooder would be at the same temp as the inci for the first couple of days so it won't feel chilly to them when they come out of the inci. Keep the lid on and preferably check the night time temp. beforehand with a max/min thermometer.

 

[Seal36]

Ok thank you I won't draw on the eggs and won't worry about the humidity. I will try and get a min and max temperature gauge for the brooder. Thanks for all your help again.

1. The eggs are going in today so when will they hatch?
2. Is it day 12 or 14 I need to add the water to the incubator?
3. It is day 14 I take the egg tray out and put the cloth in isn't it?

Thanks for all your help from Tom

 

[Marigold]

The incubator will stop the turning on Day 14 and at that point you can remove the quail ring and sit the eggs on the cloth. Then they have a day or two to twitch themselves into the right position for hatching. They should pip at any time from Day 15 onwards, but it will be harder to see movement and pipping at first with the tiny eggs, compared with chickens. Just spread them out a bit, so long as they're not touching they'll be OK. Once they start to hatch the ones that haven't hatched yet will get all rolled around by the chicks but that doesn't matter. At this point you can up the humidity, and then close the incubator and don't open it again, whatever happens, (be strong!) until they have hatched and there has been 12-24 hours after the last one to hatch has emerged. Then move them to the brooder and perhaps leave any unhatched in there with it switched on for 48 hours, just in case. Don't be tempted to tidy up the eggshells.
Quails hatch easily because the shells on their tiny eggs are not very thick, unlike chicken eggs, so there should be no problems in the 'delivery room' but if you think one is having problems emerging, there's really nothing you can do and an assisted hatch would probably be fatal the the tiny chick and also opening the incubator would chill the others and drop the humidity. Did you watch the videos of mine hatching on my Ginnychick channel on YouTube? There's one bit where two newly hatched quails drag another out of its shell and give it a good going over, but it was OK.
If they go in today they should hatch over the weekend after next, maybe Sunday, possibly overnight to Monday.

 

[Seal36]

Ok thank you for that, so once the eggs are in I don't need to do anything until day 14 which will be day 2 on the brinsea countdown. When it reaches day two and the egg tray has stopped spinning this is when I need to put the j cloth in and put the eggs on them and then fill the water up to 3/4 full in each segment. After that I just need to wait for the event to happen and 24 hours after the last chick has emerged put the hatched out chicks in the brooder and any eggs still unhatched leave in there for 48 hours to see if they will hatch and after that turn the incubator off.

Is that all correct. Thanks for all your help from Tom

 

[Marigold]

Yes, but you missed out one important thing from your excellent summary.
When they are due to hatch, be sure to have sandwiches and cans of drink ready to hand, get the phone or video camera charged up fully, and cancel all other social engagements for the weekend the births are expected. Also get a comfortable chair in a good viewing position for the show!

 

[Seal36]

Unfortunately I am working on the Saturday and Sunday so I won't be able to see them hatch unless they hatch before or after I have been at work. When I am here though I will watch the incubator and see if I can see them hatch from Tom