Baby Quail

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Yay,my quail eggs have hatched!!!!! With some help from me lol.Last night,I gave Sue a ring and we had a chat about Kaz(ill cockerel)and I mentioned that my eggs hadn't hatched,or pipped,or cheeped.I assumed they had died in their shells.Sue gave me clear instructions,on how I could 'help'them.
First,she suggested I popped them all into a bowl of tepid/warm water,and see if they bobbed.So I went and got the eggs,placed them in a bowl and 3 of the 5 were definitely bobbing.
Then,she suggested scraping a sharp knife along the shell until I'd made a hole for them to breathe.I did this,and was surprised about how much blood came out of some of the eggs,well 4 eggs.
I then put them back into their incubator.This am,they still hadn't hatched,but you could hear them cheeping.
I was busy this am,taking Kaz to the vet's,then,at lunch time I remembered my quail eggs.
I went upstairs(my incubator is in my bedroom)and they still hadn't hatched.
So,I got the sharp knife,and broke off some of the shell where I'd made their holes.Then peeled the shells off completely.
3 of the quail were definitely alive,chirping and cheeping,and MOVING :D .1 was very weak,and 1 I think is actually dead,but,I've put them all into their brooder,under the heat lamp to dry out.
So a big thank-you to Sue.
 
So am I Anne,just keeping fingers crossed they all survive now.Since I put them in the broody,all they have done is sleep.No cheeping or signs of life.
 
Oh boy, Lydia... where do you find such colours for your posts? :o I can't seem to find out how to do that... :roll: Great news you have had some Quail hatch though.

Now, someone correct me if I'm wrong... I've not actually hatched Quail in an incubator before... But assuming they are not in-bred - which I think is unlikely as people seem to keep a good number of Quail together with a few males, then they should have pipped and hatched themselves.

Blood is not good - this means they haven't fully absorbed their yolk sack and it was too early for them to hatch. The hatching process can take a couple of days to complete - sometimes, chicks will pip the shell and then take another day to absorb before emerging. They can get infected through the navel if the yolk sack isn't fully absorbed - this can take 48 hours or so for chickens eggs.

Remember, chicks can be early or late - in fact with Geese, they say 28 to 31 days to hatch... this is because it depends on how fresh the eggs were when they were incubated. If you keep eggs before incubating, they can take longer to hatch.

I would be checking your incubator set-up before any more eggs go in it. Highly selected strains / show birds are very hard to hatch - this is because they are closely bred and may need help but in general, you shouldn't help. - Humidity is the usual problem - if you have one of those plastic dials, bin it, they all give a different reading. I tried 5 of them once in an incubator and they read between 30 and 70% humidity between them!

I always go for a wet bulb hygrometer - they seem to be pretty accurate, providing the thermometers are accurate... and they are not expensive - two thermometers, some wick on one and a water reservoir.

I watch and if a chick gets stuck that has already started to break part way around the shell (and stops for 12 to 24 hours) then I break a little shell away (not all) to help them again but if the breeder isn't breeding too closely, they should hatch on their own over a day or two (for chicks).

Mostly, I just come down in the morning or come home from work to find chicks cheeping in the incubator - but I hatch my own birds eggs usually and have introduced new bloodlines over the years to prevent inbreeding.
 
Hi Lydia
So glad you have some chicks, am surprised they are alive as you say they should have hatched Christmas Day they were well overdue. Its wonderful to see them bobbing in the water!!, as time says they were probably inbred hence they were to weak or the humidity may have been incorrect, but at least you have given them a start that they would of had without your help.
 
Another thing that was strange,4 of them had pooped in their shells.
I think I got the humidity wrong,I set the incubator up following the manufacturers instructions,towards the end I checked on some quail websites that said the people had more success with dry incubation.Only adding some water at the end when due to hatch.
I will try some more eggs,quail,and keep the incubator dry.My other option is to wait until either my pekin or sablepoots go broody and let them hatch them for me.
Apparently quail don't go broody,not sure how they manage in the wild,they don't do what cuckoo's do,or have incubators :lol: .
 
I've had broody Quail - that's how I hatched them when I kept them as a wee lad. 3 out of 8 were broody at one time. They were Chinese Painted.
 
Were you'rs in an aviary Tim?
I could understand them going broody in an aviary,apparently they lay the eggs all over the place and then when they want to sit them scrape them together into a pile.
All the info on quail now says they don't go broody, and to use an incubator or broody hen.
 
Just found this thread

Congratulations on your births! :D

Show us some pics!

Osric
 
Yes, I had an aviary when I lived in Wales. I don't have one any more.

They couldn't half fly too - vertically upwards - I remember searching for one in long grass for hours when it flew off into the neighbouring field.
 
Yes,they do fly well.Too well,I've had 3 adults escape and take off,another 2 got out,I caught one and my horrid terrier caught the other and ate it.
She's been in disgrace ever since........wicked dog :evil: .I'm tempted too cover her in tomatoe ketchup and shut her in with the chooks.......
 
yep most types of quail that i breed do better with very low humidity on hatch to much can actually lower hatch rates.

John
 
I've run my incubator dry since,checking the humidity in it, it is running at 45%,occasionaly raising to 50%.Not had anything higher than 50%.
When this batch has finished,I'm going to try the incy in other rooms of my house, and see if the humidity is more stable,not sure if that will work though.
 
You can use a digital thermometer in your rooms to check the humidity in each room. I set my humidity inside my incubator at about 25 - 30 % no more. I use an R-com 20 incubator which can control the humidity inside the incubator reducing the humidity inside as it heats up. My room humidity is about 50% when i start up the incubator then i set the humidity to 25% on the incubator control panel & within a few minutes it slowly reduces from 50% down to the 25% as it becomes warmer & up to temperature inside the incubator. The heat should lower the humidity inside as it warms up if you don't have any water inside. You should try & see if your incubator will lower the humidity in this way ? Some incubators can struggle to lower the humidity in this way especially when very new. They seem to hold to humidity high & it may not be possible to lower it to this low point. I have sometimes put a new incubator on high temperature with low humidity setting to try & dryout the unit more which can help reduce the humidity lower sometimes. But some incubators can sometimes struggle to reach this low humidity setting. So best to just use the lowest humidity that your able to.

John
 
Forgot to add that if anyone uses an R-com incubator with low humidity you must always add water into the water pot as normal but lower the humidity setting on the control panel down to the 25% level to achieve the correct humidity If you leave the water pot empty you can mess up the humidity controller inside your R-com incubator just wanted to make that clear for everyone !!
 
thanks for that information Wraith.I must have got it right this time as I've got CPQ hatching now,they are sooooo sweet.
 
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