Quail incubation related question

[Japoniquail]

Hello!
I’m new here and when googling for answers I saw how many questions were answered here so I decided to ask my question here to see if anyone might know the answer.

I recently decided to do a science experiment by incubating some quail eggs from the grocery store.

I made a diy incubator and hand turned the eggs 3 times a day.

I know I’m not supposed to touch them in lockdown, but I was just so worried so I did...

I had one egg that showed signs of growth early on, but it had a thick shell so I couldn’t really see well when candling with my iPhone. I could see that the dark blob inside of it grew and now I can’t see anything at all. It’s pretty much just all dark, with a very small crescent shaped spot in the middle. I saw some movement, which was not created by me turning the egg, but didn’t see any air sac.

Another one, which started developing a little later seems to have an air sac with dark veins. I saw movement in this one early on, but didn’t see any in this last candling attempt.

I’m now on Day 16 and went into lockdown on Day 14.

They’re not stink, but they haven’t pipped and I haven’t heard any cheeping or seen any types of movement outside of when candling one of them. Should I be worried?

 

[le_bwah]

If that "crescent shaped spot in the middle" glows when you apply light to the egg, then it is the air cell. This means the air cell was detached—sadly, eggs like this don't usually result in live chicks because the baby only knows to pip where the air cell should be.

But any egg that looks dark and full during lockdown has a chance of hatching, no matter how slim. The experiment you've set up was stacked against a successful hatch—it would be healthy to be understanding if none of them hatch, and joyful if any of them do.

Keep us updated. I wish you luck!

 

[mixedUPturk]

Hello!
I’m new here and when googling for answers I saw how many questions were answered here so I decided to ask my question here to see if anyone might know the answer.

I recently decided to do a science experiment by incubating some quail eggs from the grocery store.

I made a diy incubator and hand turned the eggs 3 times a day.

I know I’m not supposed to touch them in lockdown, but I was just so worried so I did...

I had one egg that showed signs of growth early on, but it had a thick shell so I couldn’t really see well when candling with my iPhone. I could see that the dark blob inside of it grew and now I can’t see anything at all. It’s pretty much just all dark, with a very small crescent shaped spot in the middle. I saw some movement, which was not created by me turning the egg, but didn’t see any air sac.

Another one, which started developing a little later seems to have an air sac with dark veins. I saw movement in this one early on, but didn’t see any in this last candling attempt.

I’m now on Day 16 and went into lockdown on Day 14.

They’re not stink, but they haven’t pipped and I haven’t heard any cheeping or seen any types of movement outside of when candling one of them. Should I be worried?

you came to the right place!

If that "crescent shaped spot in the middle" glows when you apply light to the egg, then it is the air cell. This means the air cell was detached—sadly, eggs like this don't usually result in live chicks because the baby only knows to pip where the air cell should be.

But any egg that looks dark and full during lockdown has a chance of hatching, no matter how slim. The experiment you've set up was stacked against a successful hatch—it would be healthy to be understanding if none of them hatch, and joyful if any of them do.

Keep us updated. I wish you luck!

 

[Japoniquail]

If that "crescent shaped spot in the middle" glows when you apply light to the egg, then it is the air cell. This means the air cell was detached—sadly, eggs like this don't usually result in live chicks because the baby only knows to pip where the air cell should be.

But any egg that looks dark and full during lockdown has a chance of hatching, no matter how slim. The experiment you've set up was stacked against a successful hatch—it would be healthy to be understanding if none of them hatch, and joyful if any of them do.

Keep us updated. I wish you luck!

Thank you so much for replying!

Out of all the YouTube videos and answers to questions I’ve seen, it’s the first time I heard the term ‘detached air cell’.

It was a really good piece of information! Thank you!

After researching a bit though, I saw that most are kind of large and ‘saddle shaped’. It didn’t really look like what I saw. Is there a possibility that what I saw was just some space between the chick’s head and its body? And that the air sac just couldn’t be seen due to a thick shell?

It was rather odd looking, so I just thought I’d make sure as this has been a rather tough egg to see through.

 

[le_bwah]

When an air cell becomes completely detached/displaced, it can "roll" around under the shell and settle where it's not supposed to. I think this is what's happening to your egg.

With quail, at least, the chick completely darkens the egg upon candling—the only clear spot would be the air cell. Clear spot on the side = air cell on the side.

I will say, I've had some wonky eggs hatch out—several saddle-shaped air cells and one that crept almost sideways. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, you know?

 

[Japoniquail]

When an air cell becomes completely detached/displaced, it can "roll" around under the shell and settle where it's not supposed to. I think this is what's happening to your egg.

With quail, at least, the chick completely darkens the egg upon candling—the only clear spot would be the air cell. Clear spot on the side = air cell on the side.

I will say, I've had some wonky eggs hatch out—several saddle-shaped air cells and one that crept almost sideways. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, you know?

Thank you!
That’s super interesting! I wish there were some kind of video explaining everything that can go on within the egg during incubation - kind of like those human embryo to fetus pregnancy videos, but for birds.

I’m thinking of maybe getting a better light, as this particular egg has been quite difficult to see through even when it just started developing. I’ve read that lights 131 lumens or higher are good for quail eggs. Is there anything else I should be looking out for?

I live in Japan, so I’ll probably be looking for just a really strong flashlight at the hardware store cause I don’t know of anyone who raises birds from eggs here.

 

[Japoniquail]

So, I just bought a light. Thank goodness Japan also recognizes lumens!

The egg that I had a difficult time seeing through with my iPhone did have its air sac in its proper place... at least I think so... it’s not the strangely placed crescent shaped sliver of light I saw last time. That’s for sure.

The other one looks a bit odd though. I’m thinking it’s just a late bloomer as this is exactly what the other one looked like about a week ago. This is the one I saw movement in early in its development. I saw an actual thing wiggling around at the same time that the other egg looked like this one currently does.

I don’t know. Any opinions?

And I know I’m not supposed to touch them after lockdown... I did spritz them as I’ve seen in videos though. Not too much, just a light mist.

I won’t be touching them after this as I’ve finally been able to see inside the one that was giving me visibility issues.

 

[le_bwah]

Top one looks alive! The other one looks like it might have its air cell at the wrong end (still able to hatch!). To me, it also looks underdeveloped—too much light coming through and a muddy line between fetus and air.

But as long as none of them stink, you can put them all in the incubator and hope for the best—the last day I'd wait for anybody to hatch is day 23 (if the day you put the eggs in is Day 0). Don't touch them anymore—now it's time to watch and wait!

 

[Japoniquail]

Top one looks alive! The other one looks like it might have its air cell at the wrong end (still able to hatch!). To me, it also looks underdeveloped—too much light coming through and a muddy line between fetus and air.

But as long as none of them stink, you can put them all in the incubator and hope for the best—the last day I'd wait for anybody to hatch is day 23 (if the day you put the eggs in is Day 0). Don't touch them anymore—now it's time to watch and wait!

Thank you!!
I think you probably can see way more than I can. All I can see are lines hehe

Yeah. It’s probably a late bloomer, which is really interesting to me as they’re from the same batch of supermarket eggs. I wonder why some develop earlier and some later.

None of them stink as far as I can tell. Do I need to give it a good whiff to tell or would it just naturally stink if it had gone bad?

Also, thanks for the deadline! I wasn’t sure exactly when to wait until. It’s a good thing you mentioned it or I would’ve probably given up after 20.

 

[le_bwah]

Thank you!!
I think you probably can see way more than I can. All I can see are lines hehe

Yeah. It’s probably a late bloomer, which is really interesting to me as they’re from the same batch of supermarket eggs. I wonder why some develop earlier and some later.

None of them stink as far as I can tell. Do I need to give it a good whiff to tell or would it just naturally stink if it had gone bad?

Also, thanks for the deadline! I wasn’t sure exactly when to wait until. It’s a good thing you mentioned it or I would’ve probably given up after 20.

"Late bloomers" are usually due to cold spots in the incubator, as far as I know. And if an egg has gone really bad, it'll stink enough to be obvious.

Also, 23 days is just what I've heard from hatcheries, not an absolute rule. But the longer you go, the more you risk having an egg go bad. My latest, I think, was day 19 or 20.