The two question most frequently asked by potential fertile eggs buyers is “what is the fertility of the eggs you are selling” and “would the eggs withstand the long trip with a courier”
As I hatch quail eggs on a regular basis and monitor various parameters to not only better understand my quail breeding project, but also to provide me with factual information I can use as selection tools. Following analyses of the results from hatching about 800 eggs over the past 9 months, the following results were found
| HATCHABILITY PARAMETERS | YOUNG BIRDS – 92 Days old | OLD BIRDS – 611 Days Old | EGG STORAGE – 3 DAYS | EGG STORAGE – 8 DAYS | EGG STORAGE – 13 DAYS | EGG STORAGE – 18 DAYS |
| Infertile Eggs | 6.7% | 14.2% | 6.7% | 7.2% | 6.9% | 6.1% |
| Hatchability of eggs set (%) | 86.5% | 72.8% | 86.5% | 87.2% | 81.0% | 71.7% |
| Hatchability of fertile eggs (%) | 92.7% | 84.8% | 92.7% | 94.0% | 87.0% | 76.4% |
The most significant conclusions are that hatchability deteriorate with aging birds and also decline with storage of eggs in excess of 13 days
Back Yard Farmer 