Why all this trouble?

[galaxie428]

I am in the process of hatching some quail eggs and have been following some really good advice from you folks on this site. I am curious though, I have been turning eggs, trying to keep my heat and humidity levels correct and all that but why do I need to do all this? When a wild quail has eggs, she certainly can’t be sitting on them the whole time and keeping everything just right. I don’t know about her turning the eggs either though I guess it is possible.

So, I am in no way doubting what all you folks on here are doing because apparently it is working but I just wonder why we need to do all this to get an egg to hatch when the conditions are not perfect for a wild quail and for what they deal with, they do ok.

[frank_lap_127]

When the quails live their nest, it's for few minutes, just the time to drink water and eat few seeds. They normally loose a lot of weight by doing this, wich is totally natural. The temperature is quite the same and a good reason why they don't use turbofan is because they don't have!  No, the real reason why they don't need circulated air is because the eggs are touching the skin.

About the egg turning, yes they do. The humidity is created by the body os the quails. If you would try an incubation with a large temperature range, no eggs turning and all that, you would probably get no chicks, or at least, they wouldn't be healthy.

Thanks

Frank

[GSP4]

Frank is right, I have raised many pigeons, and have seen them turning the eggs. I have seen wild birds turn eggs as well, as for the humidity and temp the bird spreads thier chest  feathers before it sits on the eggs so the eggs are next to the skin and that is the heat and humidity, if we just used heat and a fan the eggs would dry out and kill the chick. on hot days a hen wont sit as tight, and on really cold days she sits really tight and I have seen them only leave the nest long enough to get a drink and peck a few seeds. if they would leave the nest at all.

[Reeves]

I've seen Pheasants leave the nest for over an hour at a time, and still get them hatching on time and 100% hatch.
Yes, they turn the eggs, several times a day.
However, the last 2-3 days the hen will sit tight, if she leaves the nest it is for a very short time. Part of the humidity is caused by "anxiety".
If I get in the mood I'll look for the info and post it someplace.
 

[wildergamebirds]

  I wonder if the "anxiety" we feel when trying to hatch eggs, and something has gotten too hot, or too dry, helps them hatch.  It seems most of the people here (including me) who have had incubator problems have come out OK.

  I would suggest one reason for trying your best to maintain perfect, or optimum conditions is in case of a power, or humidity failure.  If conditions have been very close during most of the incubation time, and you have a failure, you may not lose any.  If temperature, and humidity have varied a lot, and you have turned them only occasionally, you are probably likely to lose more.  Not very scientific, but seems right to me.

[CoopVilla]

the embryos need to be turned at least 3 times each day or they will stick to the shell ... the temp and humidity is for their development and eggs do not need to be turned during the three days before hatching ...

one way to be certain is to check out your own experience and try it with-out doing any of the whys...

[slider]

Well I guess more is better...BUT...they do not have to be turned 3 times a day...The eggs that I have to turn by hand, I turn 1 time in 24 hours and I lay them on their side not small end down and I just roll them around like marbles but I make sure that I move all of them. I also open all the doors on all of my incubators for 20 minutes once a day to let the eggs have a cool down period..get great hatches and works for me...and down South we do not have to worry to much about the humidity except in Aug. and Sept..like I said it works for me may not for others...I do not even use a humidity monitor I just keep an eye on the air sack in the large end of the egg..this takes some experience and will come with time if you know your eggs...I will say to you beginners at hatching eggs follow the advice that you are getting from the experts on this forum...and you can develop your own way of doing things with the growth of experience...I AM NOT AN EXPERT I HAVE ONLY BEEN HATCHING EGGS FOR 40 YEARS...And I do know that all of this advice can be very confusing for a beginner. Just hang in there and it will come with time and do not be afraid to try different things.

[jbird]

(Quote from Slider)  Just roll them around like marbles but I make sure that I move all of them.    I have done something very similar  to that and it works quite well. your kind of doing what mother nature does when the hen tries to rotate the eggs

[wildergamebirds]

  Someone posted the results of a study here, I believe, that compared hatch rates of eggs stored for over 14 days. 

  This is from the memory of an old guy, so I might be off a bit, but the basics are accurate.

  As I remember, fresh eggs (stored less than a week) hatched at about the same rate no matter what.  For eggs stored longer (at 50-55F), the more often they were turned during storage, the better the hatch rate.  Also, (this may have been a different study) eggs stored for longer periods, or at less than optimum temperatures, hatch at higher rates, the more often they were turned during incubation (Up to 24 times per day, or so).  This does not mean you can store them at 75F for 30 days and make up for it by turning them every 30 minutes.

  So if you set eggs every three days, or so, keep them at warmer than optimal temperatures, and turn them less than normally suggested, you can still get pretty good hatches.  However, if you don't turn your eggs, much, store them in temperatures fluctuating from 45-65F, store them for 14 days, and then turn them only once a day, with who knows what humidity....

  Don't count you pure Red Jungle Fowl before they're hatched.

[Reeves]

Someone posted the results of a study here, I believe, that compared hatch rates of eggs stored for over 14 days. 

Wonder who would have posted that ?

 

[Reeves]

 

[ode2god]

isit better to hand turn or is the autoturners just as good ?im getting ready to try a second batch the first ones got to hot...new incubater

[Reeves]

Auto turner.

When ever a person handles eggs they should have freshly washed hands. Oils, bacteria etc can plug the pours or introduce bacteria via the pours.

[ode2god]

thanks reeves

[wildturkey]

isit better to hand turn or is the autoturners just as good ?im getting ready to try a second batch the first ones got to hot...new incubater

I have good hatch rates with my auto turner and it's one less thing to worry about.