When to remove eggs for incubation

[Tripp]

Hi i am new to this forum and keeping quail in general so i am learning as i go. Last summer i was given a male Japanese quail and a month later i bought 3 more females (1 Italian).I live in the U.K  and keep them outside in my yard in an aviary containing branches, chippings, straw and nest boxes etc... so they have plenty of stuff to nose about in and keep them happy.

6 days ago i discovered my 1st egg and since then i now have 9 eggs dotted about, 5 together and 4 more in seperate places. I don't want to eat the eggs, i want to raise more quail and after reading up i found that quail don't tend to sit on they're eggs. I have an incubator arriving tomorrow but i am not sure if i should put them in there as sometimes i have seen the birds sitting on the eggs. Does this mean that the embryos will have started to develop and then have died since the hens haven't constantly kept them warm? If this is so should i take away an egg every time i see one and store it in a cool place until i have enough to incubate? I wasn't sure if this might distress the birds as they seem quite devote to checking their eggs are okay.

Sorry if this was a bit long winded, or in the wrong section,  any help/advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks

[Hivoltg30]

Sounds like you have a great set up for the quail, mine would be envious!

My understanding about collecting eggs for the incubator, one I have practiced, is to collect the eggs daily and keep them in a cool, (but not cold) place while you are accumulating enough to incubate.
Eggs stored for up to seven days should be incubated and eggs can be stored up to a maximum of 10 days before they are no longer viable.

When I incubate Bobwhites, I tend to push that recommendation to the limit, with varied results, I mark the oldest eggs and have found that they tend to average a low 20-40% hatch rate, whereas the fresh eggs have a 90% average!

Also I haven’t had a problem adding eggs to the incubator after the first set, say I have 100 eggs in the incubator, and three days later I have another 20 ready, I can slip them into the incubator at that time, as long as I mark them to remind myself they will be a few days later in hatching.

My thoughts and actions on all of this could just be founded on pure luck, so if someone recommends better facts go with what sounds best.
Happy Hatching!

[Tripp]

Hey thanks for your advice..Only had 1 out of 12 eggs hatch in the end but i think that was due to not being able to keep the eggs cool enough prior to incubation. Better luck next time i hope.