🥚 Incubating Your Eggs

The most natural way to incubate your eggs, of course, is to do so with a broody quail hen. However, if you intend to incubate often, using the incubator makes perfect sense. Being broody takes a lot out of a hen!

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🤔 Choosing an Incubator

Researchers suggest that a forced-air incubator tends to give the best results.

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Incubation Position

Studies indicate that the highest hatching rates are achieved with eggs incubated in a horizontal position (on their sides) with turning.

Turning Eggs During Incubation

Many bird species naturally turn their eggs while nesting. It greatly increases the chances that your quail will hatch.

Incubation Temperature & Humidity

The temperature of your incubator is incredibly important, as too cold of an environment, and even inconsistent temps, can permanently stunt your quail.

Incubate your eggs at 99.7°F - 101.7°F (37.6°C - 38.7°C). Humidity should be kept at 45-60%.

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📝 Factors that Effect Hatching

There are quite a few factors that will affect your hatching rates!

It’s important to throughly clean your incubator before use, and run it for 2 days before you place your eggs inside.

Egg freshness. Eggs collected and then immediately placed in an incubator have a much higher chance of hatching then eggs left to set.

Quail hens at 10-14 weeks of age tend to lay healthier, more viable eggs

Egg gender may be influenced by incubation temperature (99.9° - 101.7° lean female)

You may have better hatch rates with eggs incubated in darkness or under red lights Dipping eggs in vinegar before incubation may help eggs hatch a greater rate by killing harmful bacteria

Heat-stressed hens lay more infertile eggs

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❇️ Day 14

Day 14 is an important day for your incubating babies! This is the time when you should stop turning your eggs, and start to prepare the incubator for like chicks.

Quickly remove all rails and turners from your incubator.

Add material to the bottom of your incubator where your quail will walk. Usually paper towels.

Place your eggs back into the incubator immediately, and make sure your humidity is around 60%. High humidity will help your quail hatch from their eggs instead of being trapped inside.

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🐥 Hatching Day

Although it may seem cruel, never help a quail chick hatch from an egg. Your breeding program and your reputation rely on your ability to breed strong, healthy quail who will not cost you or your eventual customers extra time, money and heartache.

Don’t open the incubator until all quail have hatched! Live quail can live in an incubator for up to 24 hours.

After your certain all viable chicks have hatched, move all chicks directly to their brooder or broody hen

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All links and sources can be found here: https://raleighquail.notion.site/Incubating-Your-Eggs-480c4e2258494f51b92468a2f21420ad

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Thanks for reading! 🐥