new eggs just in

[Reeves]

Fertility will get better as the season progresses.

[aKirA]

Out of the 53 eggs I started with, I had 41 eggs developing (dark inside) 3 eggs a little clear with a blood ring, and 9 clear eggs.  I guess so far thats a 77% fertility rate. 

From your experiences, the supplier (DKQuails) said they had an 85% fertility rate, is this lower percentage usually associated with eggs that were shipped? 

Also from your experiences, of the 41 eggs developing, what % of that should hatch?

Thanks.

Yes shipping will lower the chances of eggs developing. 41/53 is pretty good for shipped eggs.

Percentage of developing eggs hatching is variable. It's all up to mother nature really but chances are good you'll get close to 41 hatches from the developed if all conditions are good.

[sadworld]

what's candling?

[Reeves]

Looking inside the eggs with a light.

[minhlac]

I stopped turning yesterday and immediately I saw some wiggling of a few eggs.  This morning I took a hard look and I saw some cracks (looks about 1 mm across) in almost all the eggs and more wiggling from them.  Occasionally I can only  hear a "pip" or two, so i'm not sure what is happening. 
Today is the 22 day.

We'll see, i'll keep you guys updated.

[aKirA]

heheh....all is well. ;)

[minhlac]

So those two eggs you see in the pics havent moved or the size of the hole hasn't changed since this morning, do you think the chick inside died? 

How long does it take usually when they make that first crack?

Thanks.

[aKirA]

They will make little cracks like that.

But...You'll know when they are actually breaking out of the eggs when they do a circle pattern on the fat end of the egg.

[minhlac]

Thanks for the info.

How long does it take from the first crack to them cracking a circular pattern to get out?

[aKirA]

it could be anywhere from 3-5 days. Usually during the last 3 days of incubation you will notice these random little cracks. It's common.

[JohnInDixon]

This is the time when humidity is most important.  As soon as the break that membrane, if its dry in the outer world, they'll stick to that membrane.  Make sure you have around 80% humidity and leave it closed.

G'Luck,
John

[minhlac]

Thanks Akira, Thanks John,

One more question for the experts...

Once they start making the circular crack around the large end of the egg do they ever stop and rest?  or, do is it that once they start making this circular break they dont stop till they go all the way round?

Reason I asked is last night I heard a lot of chirps and went to the incubator around 3AM.  I saw a chick making a larger hole than the little cracks i've seen before, this hole is about 5mm by 3mm and I saw some egg shell pieces underneath the egg.  When I turned on the light to see, the chick stopped?!?!  Will it start again?

[gsc]

It should, again, this is the time to be patient and let them do their work.  The amount of time can vary and keeping the humidity up is most important.  Less humidity means tougher shell and membrane and more work, this gets you tired chicks and loss.  Keep the lid on, keep the humidity up and enjoy.  They will come barrelling out soon enough.

[minhlac]

Right now I had 4 chicks hatch!  I also have 3 more that are in the middle of the circle pecking. And numerous more eggs still wiggling.

Heres a little video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkpK_QvzZuA

Thanks to everyone for the info to help me make this hatch successful!

[minhlac]

ok, all but 1 hatched, around 4 yesterday afternoon, in a span of 5 min, about 28ish hatched!  I couldn't believe it, I really think they synchronize it some how to hatch at the same time... Amazing!

So 40 out of 41, guess thats good.