How to incubate quail eggs — a guide from day 1 to the hatch

Quail eggs usually need 16 to 18 days, most often around 17. In practice the main incubation period is run at about 37.5 to 37.8 degrees Celsius and a relative humidity in the range of 45 to 55 per cent, with turning several times a day; about two to three days before the calculated hatch date the turning stops, the humidity is raised to roughly 65 to 75 per cent, and after that the incubator stays shut. Everything else here is the reasoning behind those four numbers and the order in which they come into play.

The ranges come from experience, they are not a regulation: every incubator has its own characteristics, and the manufacturer's instructions take precedence.

Before you switch the incubator on: the eggs

A great deal is decided before the first egg lies in the incubator.

• Age of the parent birds. Very young hens lay small eggs with poor hatching

performance; usable hatching eggs are generally to be had only some weeks after laying begins. In old birds the fertility rate falls again.

• Age of the egg. After about a week of storage the hatch rate drops

noticeably. Setting smaller batches more often therefore usually achieves more than one large collection.

• Storage. Cool and shaded, well below room temperature, but not in the

fridge. Keep them lying down or with the pointed end downwards and tilt them slightly every day so that the germ does not stick. Let them come up to room temperature before setting, otherwise condensation forms on the cold shell.

• Sorting out. Very small, cracked, thin-shelled, badly misshapen and heavily

soiled eggs do not belong in the batch; a spoiled egg can burst in the warm incubator and contaminate its neighbours.

Preparing the incubator

An incubator is not switched on the day you set the eggs, but before: let it run empty for at least a day, with water in the tray and in its final position. That shows you whether the temperature holds or drifts over the hours.

• A second thermometer. The built-in display is a claim until an independent

instrument confirms it. Put it at egg height in the middle of the cabinet, not against the wall. If the readings differ, go by the instrument you have checked and note the difference instead of guessing at the dial. Measuring at a second point reveals warm and cool corners.

• The location. No sunlight, no draught, no radiator next to it. If the room

fluctuates, the incubator fluctuates with it.

• Cleanliness. Clean the machine, the trays and the water pans before every

batch and let them dry completely; keep the ventilation openings clear.

Warmth, humidity, fresh air

The main incubation period is run at about 37.5 to 37.8 degrees Celsius, the hatching phase a shade cooler. The humidity range of 45 to 55 per cent makes sure that the egg gives off water in a controlled way and that the air cell at the blunt end grows. Eggs incubated too damp have too little air on hatch day, eggs incubated too dry lose too much. You see the measure of that when candling.

Turning

During the main incubation period the eggs are turned several times a day; three to five times is enough, ideally an odd number. Turning stops the germ from growing onto the shell membrane and spreads the heat evenly over the egg.

The odd number has a simple reason: with an even number the egg lies on the same side every night — the longest break of the day. With an odd number the night side changes from day to day.

Two to three days before the hatch the turning is stopped: the chick turns into its hatching position, and any movement disturbs it while it does so.

Candling

Candling means holding the egg against a strong, focused light source in the dark. With quail eggs this is more troublesome than with hen eggs, because the shell is speckled. Work briskly so that the eggs do not cool down.

• Around day 5 to 7: a fertile egg shows a fine, cobweb-like network of veins

with a darker spot. A clear egg is infertile; a distinct blood ring or a broken-off vein structure indicates a dead germ.

• Around day 10 to 12: the contents are largely dark, movement can often be

made out, and the air cell stands out clearly.

• Before the transfer: sort out eggs that have stayed translucent; they can

burst open in the hatcher.

Day by day

Transferring to the hatcher

On the transfer day three things change at the same time, and all three belong together:

1. The eggs go into flat hatching trays and lie there loose. They need room

to turn, but they should not roll about.

1. The turning stops. Switch the automatic system off, do not just unplug

the motor and leave the turning tray in.

1. The humidity rises to about 65 to 75 per cent. As soon as the chick pips

the shell, the inner egg membrane dries at the opening; if the humidity is too low it turns leathery and wraps itself around the bird like a film, and the bird can then no longer turn any further.

In a combined machine the same changeover takes place, only without a change of location.

The hatch

About a day before the hatch the chick opens the air cell with its egg tooth and cheeps. Then it pips the shell from the inside and slowly turns itself around inside the egg until the cap comes off. Many hours often pass between the first visible hole and the finished chick. That is normal.

During this time the lid stays closed. Every opening lets the damp, warm air escape in one rush; the humidity falls within seconds and takes a long time to build up again. That is exactly when the membranes of the pipped eggs dry out — and it affects not only the one chick you wanted to see, but the whole tray. Wait until most of them have hatched and are dry, and clear the tray in one go.

The first hours afterwards

Newly hatched chicks stay in the hatcher until their down is dry. They live off the yolk sac they have taken up and need neither feed nor water. After that they go into a pre-heated brooder, never into a cold one. There they need:

• a heat source and a cooler corner to move away to; where the chicks settle

says more about the right temperature than any thermometer

• a non-slip floor so that their legs do not splay
• fine chick feed and shallow water in a drinker in which a quail chick cannot

drown

• quiet, subdued light, no draught

On the first day, look in several times to see whether all of them are drinking and whether anyone is huddling in a corner. If you run several batches in parallel, it is better to keep the setting, transfer and hatch dates in writing than in your head — that is what this application is built for.