Set my first eggs today!

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Celeris
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Re: Set my first eggs today!

Post by Celeris » Wed Mar 29, 2017 12:30 pm

MisterGribs

The loudest part of the incubator I'm borrowing is the fan, by far. My husband and I have discussed building our own and using an Arduino for the thermostat, if we ever do this again. The styrofoam monstrosity I've been using has been nothing short of inconsistent.

What is the incubation period on Coturnix? Sounds like you're quite ready for them if they ever pip!

I candled my eggs one last time just before lock down on Monday night--had one dud and one dead partway through development. Other seven had viable embryos, though. Tomorrow's hatch day--just hoping someone told the babies they're expected!

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Re: Set my first eggs today!

Post by MisterGribs » Wed Mar 29, 2017 12:51 pm

Celeris wrote: MisterGribs

The loudest part of the incubator I'm borrowing is the fan, by far. My husband and I have discussed building our own and using an Arduino for the thermostat, if we ever do this again. The styrofoam monstrosity I've been using has been nothing short of inconsistent.

What is the incubation period on Coturnix? Sounds like you're quite ready for them if they ever pip!

I candled my eggs one last time just before lock down on Monday night--had one dud and one dead partway through development. Other seven had viable embryos, though. Tomorrow's hatch day--just hoping someone told the babies they're expected!
I'm sure you'll get a few, since you have so many viable ones! Mine are scheduled to hatch next week.
I just hope their little brains aren't rattled from this vibrating fan.
2 black cheek zebras and 5 CFW zebras, one A&M pied coturnix hen, my darling cream/lavender coturnix roo, and his attitude.

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Re: Set my first eggs today!

Post by MisterGribs » Wed Mar 29, 2017 12:53 pm

I forgot to mention- the incubation period for these is 17-20 days.
2 black cheek zebras and 5 CFW zebras, one A&M pied coturnix hen, my darling cream/lavender coturnix roo, and his attitude.

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Re: Set my first eggs today!

Post by MisterGribs » Sat Apr 01, 2017 1:26 am

So the quail eggs were scheduled to hatch, and none of them looked at all developed when I candled them with a bright light in a pitch dark room. So I discarded them.

Upon opening, I saw that almost all of them 8/10 had been fertile, but only one had started to develop, and had quit on day 2 or so before any veins had even started to form. The eggs themselves had started to go bad.

So in conclusion, you CAN get live chicks from quail's eggs that have been in the refrigerator for 2 weeks at a low hatch rate, provided you let them reach room temp for 24 hours first, but 3 weeks is very unlikely as the blastoderms seem to be unable to germinate.

Every time I have stuck an ''unfertile'' chicken's egg into the incubator as a placeholder/dummy egg, it has developed despite no roosters being intentionally included. I buy from a small company that raises free-range indoor leghorns, so it's possible a young male slipped under the radar but extremely unlikely that all the eggs are fertile. I'm pretty sure I just got a lucky batch as far as these are concerned.

Today I will be picking up a fresh batch of intentionally fertilized eggs from a coturnix breeder of assorted colors, and placing a few in my new forced-air incubator. I'll be keeping this breeder's number, as it took me months of intensive searching to find her!
2 black cheek zebras and 5 CFW zebras, one A&M pied coturnix hen, my darling cream/lavender coturnix roo, and his attitude.

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Re: Set my first eggs today!

Post by Celeris » Mon Apr 03, 2017 2:30 pm

Well, I had an equipment malfunction at the last moment and all the babies got fried! Only one pipped and it died before it had even started to zip. Candled them after we caught the mistake and were three days past hatch, just to be sure, and had some beautiful babies, but no movement, no veins. So not much more luck than yourself! However, the gal I got the eggs from was very understanding and is even excited that I'm willing to take some eggs from an "experimental" pairing she's just finally getting fertile eggs from this go 'round. Not willing to give up until I make babies happen!

Good luck with your next hatch! We just may have babies at the same time. (16 day incubation for button quail)

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Re: Set my first eggs today!

Post by MisterGribs » Tue Apr 04, 2017 6:38 am

celeris OH NO! I experienced something similar with my new batch. The egg in the central divot for some reason gets really hot. Luckily I am an obsessive, hourly egg checker from my finch-hatching days, and caught it before it could get too hot. I think somehow the heating element is under there, and it blocks the heat to that one egg, cutting it off from the others. Luckily they were only like that for an hour. I ordered from the internet a thermostat with an alarm! It will beep if the temperature goes beyond a certain point. I just hope it arrives some time in the next century.

Batch 2 didn't have any developing, so two days ago I picked up a fresh, laid-yesterday batch of 10 from 10 different hens. One was cracked, so there's 9 in there and they already have signs of life.

Aren't quail eggs a pain in the buns to candle though? You have to use like, a miniature sun to see through them at all. And then you blind yourself with the light between eggs, so you can't see anything at all, let alone inside that dark little egg... I'm amazed I have never dropped an egg, knock on wood.

Mine have 17 days left! You just might be right, lol. I would LOVE!!!! To have some sweet little button babies, but common quail eggs are already so tiny! ;A; They would be essentially useless in my quest to stop giving my money to the mass-production poultry industry.

A small comment of interest, I found out that (coturnix coturnix) quail are wild here, they are essentially everywhere, and that's why I had such an impossible freaking time getting my hands on any. They are like house flies, I guess, and a major supporter of the local fox, lynx and weasel population here. They should be coming back into the fields right about at this time of year.
2 black cheek zebras and 5 CFW zebras, one A&M pied coturnix hen, my darling cream/lavender coturnix roo, and his attitude.

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Re: Set my first eggs today!

Post by Celeris » Tue Apr 04, 2017 1:45 pm

Mister Gribs

I'm glad you managed to catch yours in time! I learned my lesson from this failure and intend to have more than one thermometer this time. Especially since this one was actually reading HIGH when I put the eggs on lock down, so I wasn't obsessing over things not getting too hot. Never did I dream something drastic would happen and it would start reading 4+ degrees LOW. Needless to say, that thing isn't getting a second chance.

That's neat that you have them running wild where you're at! I know we have Gambol Quail here in Colorado... not sure if anyone has ever domesticated that particular breed? I really never have had much interest in quail previously... starting to find them pretty fascinating, though! Domesticated coturnix are readily available in my area. So I'm thinking that, once I get my chicken coop built and the chickens established, I may also build a small coop and run for some quail... but we'll see.

I'm glad you're already having more success this time around! Gosh, yes, the eggs are so tough to see into! I'm using a super cheap keychain LED flashlight. My biggest complaint is that I have to hold the button to keep it turned on, so trying to juggle eggs and the flashlight is a nuisance. But it's super bright and has a tiiiny opening, so it does a reasonably good job.

Button quail eggs are definitely pretty useless for eating! I'm definitely going into having them as a hobby, though I will likely collect the eggs to boil and feed back to the quail and finches. I guarantee I'm gonna have spares, so it's a bummer you're nowhere near--I'd gladly give you a couple!

I can't recall if you've mentioned--is there a reason you're choosing quail, instead of chickens? You'd get bigger eggs that way.

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Re: Set my first eggs today!

Post by MisterGribs » Wed Apr 05, 2017 2:18 am

Heta and I really wanted to have chickens, but I've had them before and my lands, are they LOUD. They can scream louder than I can. Aside from that, we live in the city, and even one chicken is not permitted. According to the law here, we can keep quail! As long as they are housed indoors so they don't poop up the public areas, and we don't exceed a certain number. The laws are similar to keeping a cat or a rabbit. We don't have carpets in our house, so accidents during play time aren't going to cause a problem, and there's a lot of of forest and parks we can take them to get some sun. They just fit our lifestyle for the most part, we've put a lot of thought into it and I had a pet coturnix growing up which was a positive experience.

I've set 9 eggs, but in case we get far too many, I have people who are ready to accept them! We're planning to keep our favorite hens and possibly a cockrel if we are lucky not to have vicious ones. Coturnix quail are incredibly violent at times. :shock:
2 black cheek zebras and 5 CFW zebras, one A&M pied coturnix hen, my darling cream/lavender coturnix roo, and his attitude.

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Re: Set my first eggs today!

Post by Celeris » Sat Apr 08, 2017 12:51 pm

Ah, okay. That makes sense, then! Yes, the egg song of a hen definitely can be rather loud. Backyard chicken keeping seems to be making a comeback here in the US. Some of it is definitely people's concern over the welfare of the animals. The biggest trouble is that most of those people can't bring themselves to butcher the birds, as well. They very quickly become pets. I think the smaller flocks have a lot to do with that--easier not to get attached when a bird is one in dozens, instead of one in six!

I'm glad you have folks willing to take extra quail off your hands! I'm setting more eggs this go 'round than I did last time (still haven't gotten my newest round from my "egg provider.") I'm gonna attempt to sell any extras, but am prepared to end up with a ton of quail cages. Buttons aren't really good for anything, but being pets. At least coturnix give you good eating eggs!

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Re: Set my first eggs today!

Post by MisterGribs » Sun Apr 09, 2017 9:29 am

celeris I have never heard chickens scream harder than RIRs and Leghorns. Sheesh. Dx I used to have two little bantam cocks with feathery legs that I kept indoors. They SEEMED really quiet and well behaved, but I found out later from my roommates at the time that as soon as the 'head rooster' left the house, the boys would scream up a storm and trash each other. :)

As for finding homes for the coturnix, it's not a problem at all around here. Everyone LOVES a quail in Finland, apparently. It's getting someone to love them instead of eat them that'll be the tough part, lol.

I have some babies in the eggs now! The size of those large jellybeans you can get for cheap around this time of year. In the incubator is also a zebra finch egg that's in the process of zipping. At least I think it is. I looked at it this morning, and there was a pip! When I checked on it again a few hours later, there was a big hole in it so I switched it out for a fake. Overeager parents are the worst... So far they haven't tossed or abandoned the other fertile egg, so I'm gonna let em have it, and if they're nice to it I'll sneak the other baby back in and hope they think the fake egg ''hatched''.

I'm gonna have my hands full with lots of babies!

The eggs are a welcome bonus from coturnix, plus I secretly have a lot of cuddling and binge-watching TV planned with them. :P
2 black cheek zebras and 5 CFW zebras, one A&M pied coturnix hen, my darling cream/lavender coturnix roo, and his attitude.

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Re: Set my first eggs today!

Post by lovezebs » Sun Apr 09, 2017 11:31 am

MisterGribs,

Looking forward to seeing some babies for you to watch TV with :-BD
~Elana~

Linnies~ Canaries ~ Zebras ~ Societies ~ Gouldians ~ Orange Cheeks ~ Shaft Tails ~ Strawberries ~ Red Cheek Cordon Bleu ~ Goldbreasts ~ Red Brows ~ Owls ~ Budgies ~ Diamond Firetails ~ Javas ~ Forbes Parrot Finches ~

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Re: Set my first eggs today!

Post by MisterGribs » Fri Apr 14, 2017 6:00 am

According to various web sites, my quail can hatch any time now! They are on day 14 now, so I've locked them down and I'll be watching for early babies tomorrow.
2 black cheek zebras and 5 CFW zebras, one A&M pied coturnix hen, my darling cream/lavender coturnix roo, and his attitude.

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Re: Set my first eggs today!

Post by lovezebs » Fri Apr 14, 2017 9:36 am

I have actually watched some of them hatch at a pet expo a couple of years ago. It was rather fascinaing.
They also had tiny little nestlings moving about in a fish tank with a warm light on them.
They are incredibly cute, but the problem is, they grow up.....
~Elana~

Linnies~ Canaries ~ Zebras ~ Societies ~ Gouldians ~ Orange Cheeks ~ Shaft Tails ~ Strawberries ~ Red Cheek Cordon Bleu ~ Goldbreasts ~ Red Brows ~ Owls ~ Budgies ~ Diamond Firetails ~ Javas ~ Forbes Parrot Finches ~

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Re: Set my first eggs today!

Post by MisterGribs » Fri Apr 14, 2017 10:38 am

That they do! But don't worry, they still like to spoon and enjoy CSI reruns. :lol:
2 black cheek zebras and 5 CFW zebras, one A&M pied coturnix hen, my darling cream/lavender coturnix roo, and his attitude.

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Re: Set my first eggs today!

Post by lovezebs » Fri Apr 14, 2017 10:55 am

CSI....
My eldest son, used to be crazy about these shows, so I ended up watching them over and over and ovvvvver, until I couldn't watch them anymore, lol.

Now they just bring bitter sweet memories....

I still only like these little quail guys as chicklets :D
~Elana~

Linnies~ Canaries ~ Zebras ~ Societies ~ Gouldians ~ Orange Cheeks ~ Shaft Tails ~ Strawberries ~ Red Cheek Cordon Bleu ~ Goldbreasts ~ Red Brows ~ Owls ~ Budgies ~ Diamond Firetails ~ Javas ~ Forbes Parrot Finches ~

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