I hatch between 30 and 40 eggs every week and keep meticulous records (ex scientist) and hatching percentage at present is about 78% (chicks alive at 3 days of age of eggs placed). This is for all eggs placed over at least a 12 month period. It also includes some batches from much older birds as well as batches of very young birds, as I may sometimes collect eggs from these before they are either sold or slaughtered. Very young and very old birds obviously have lower egg viability and hence affect the records. It is not uncommon to get 90%+ hatchings from the commercial flocks. My records also include hatchings from Male lines and Female lines, Breeding Parent Stock, where I have lower Male to Female ratios and different ages in the same cages, where hatching percentages are not always that good

I must emphasise that these results are obtained by using very good commercial incubators and hatchers (FIEM) and it is not possible to achieve these results over an extended period with most of the cheap equipment on offer nowadays. Even with my equipment, the monitors in the incubators and hatchers are not always 100 % accurate and I have seperate calibrated thermometers and wet bulb thermometers to compare all the time, making sure settings are actually achieved inside the machines.

Quail Eggs are much more sensitive / difficult to hatch compared to chicken, or most other specie, eggs

The ideal settings for my conditions for Coturnix coturnix are :

Day 1 to day 14 – RH (%) – 60

Day 1 to day 14 – Temperature (C) – 37.7

Day 15 to hatch – RH (%) – 80

Day 15 to hatch – Temperature (C) – 37.5

The following hatching conditions I have found over the years are giving the best hatching and survival rates for Coturnix coturnix quails

I collect eggs for up to 3 days, depending on how many I want to incubate, then class them for hatching.

1. Do not clean or wash the eggs at all

2. Remove any odd colours and shapes of eggs

3. Candle all eggs for fine cracks and discard cracked eggs

4. Weigh the eggs and only incubate eggs that are between 12 and 15 grams. Smaller eggs result in weaker chicks, while larger eggs (15 g plus) is not preferred since it becomes too large for the hens. The incidence of double yolks are not always detectable and is more frequent in larger eggs. I select hens for about 280 – 300 g body mass and do not breed from larger birds. This is the most economical bird and eggs size.

5. Incubators are set at 37.7 Celsius and 60% (RH) Humidity. Hatchers are set at 37.5 C and 80 % (RH) Humidity. I monitor and adjust incubators and hatchers for both these two parameters with independent monitors as incubator measuring and displays are not always that accurate, even with my FIEM commercial, sophisticated and well proven machines. I use calibrated thermometers and wet bulb thermometers. Preheat incubators and hatchers for a couple of hours before setting.

I am always trying to simulate nature during incubation and hatching and therefore keep the inside of the machines dark, as if under a hen. Furthermore there are some research published lately suggesting to have better hatching results if the incubators and hatchers are switched off for about 30 minutes every day, again simulating the hen getting up to eat. I have not tried it, but will experiment with this soon.

Keep hatchers and incubators in an environment as close as possible to the setting parameters. Also avoid fluctuations in conditions and make sure there are no drafts, but it should be very well ventilated.

6. Coturnix coturnix eggs are incubated for 14 days (37.7 Celsius and 60 % (RH) Humidity) while automatically turned every 2 hours. Then they go into the hatcher (37.5 C and 80 % (RH) Humidity) until hatching at about 17 days. I leave the chicks undisturbed for 24 – 36 hours after the first chick hatched and then move all the hatched chicks to the brooders and stop hatching. I do not assist any chicks that struggle to hatch, or still in the eggs.

HATCHING TIMES

I use the same incubation and hatching parameters for many other species as well. All are moved to the hatchers 3 days prior to hatching and are just left in the incubators until 3 days before hatching, whatever time that may be.

Pheasants 24 Days (21 + 3)

Partridge 23 Days (20 + 3)

Bob White Quail 23 Days (20 + 3)

Californian Quail 22 Days (19 + 3)

Coturnix coturnix 17 Days (14 + 3)