bad smell

[mike3028]

hey ya'll, still fairly new at raising some phorah and t & m quail. i am having a problem with the eggs smelling when it is about time for them to hatch. i am using a little giant still air. i have had pretty good results with this incubator, but every time i get a bad smell and then that also attracts flies. is there any solution to add to the water (humidity) or to spray the eggs with. any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance to everyone who replies.

[stewaw]

Depends....are the eggs smelling or the water in the humidity tray?  Eggs smelling indicate bacteria buildup within the egg shell, I've never seen it to be problem with incubating eggs for less than 25 days...now if the wife "finds" a chicken egg nest in the cardboard box behind the boat that has been there for who knows how long...handle with care (I've had those babies blow in my hand simply picking them up)...You WEAR that smell for a couple of days. My guess is your problem is in the water since conditions don't get any better for bacteria to grow. Easiest solution is to sterilize between incubation cycles with a 1% to 5% bleach solution followed by a THOROUGH drying period.  If allowing the incubator to sit for a day or so between cycles isn't an option you might just keep a mist bottle filled with fresh bleach water and give it a shot ever now and then.  In fact use fresh bleach water to refill your humidity tray. Remember- the chlorine naturally evaporates from the water fairly quickly so you will have to mix smaller batches more frequently.

Good luck,
David

[mike3028]

thanks david, i will try the bleach water. i thought about that before but wanted to get someone with a little more experience than me. thanks again    mike

[jchiar]

are you sure eggs are good ? sounds like it could be rotten eggs

[mike3028]

i'm sure some of them are rotten, but my hatch ratio is around 70%. i have only incubated eggs twice so i know i still have alot to learn. i have picked up some very useful info off this site. as a matter of fact, this is the only site i read pertyaining to quail. again, thanks everyone and thanks for a great website.  mike