A quail egg incubates in just 17 days, so an incubator pays for itself quickly. But a small egg has a small safety margin: half a degree off or an extra day of storage affects the hatch more than with hens.
Selecting eggs
- 10–13 g for Japanese quail, 12–16 g for meat breeds — no very small or very large ones;
- normal shape, no cracks or rough patches;
- no older than 5–7 days, stored at 12–15 °C;
- from a flock with one male per 3–4 females, with birds at least 2–2.5 months old.
Eggs from young females in their first weeks of lay are smaller and less fertile. Better not to set them.
Day-by-day settings
| Days | Temperature | Humidity | Turning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–14 | 37.7–37.8 °C (99.9–100 °F) | 50–55% | At least 4–6 times a day |
| 15–17(18) | 37.5 °C (99.5 °F) | 65–75% | Stop |
These are guidelines for a forced-air incubator. Check your own machine’s manual: in small still-air incubators the difference between the center and the edge can be more than a degree.
How to candle speckled shells
Speckles get in the way of candling. You need a bright, narrow-beam LED and a dark room. Check on day 6–7: a fertile egg shows a network of vessels, an infertile one glows evenly. A second check is usually skipped: every extra opening cools the eggs, and for quail it gains little.
Hatching
Chicks start pipping on day 16–17 and hatch together within 6–12 hours. Don’t open the incubator during the hatch: humidity drops and the membrane dries onto chicks that have already pipped. Move the chicks to the brooder once they’re dry.
If few hatch
| What you see | Likely cause |
|---|---|
| Many clear eggs | Too few males, old males, breeder flock too young |
| Deaths in the first days | Long storage, overheating, eggs kept in a fridge |
| Chicks pipped but didn’t get out | Low humidity at the end, incubator opened |
| Hatch before day 16, weak chicks | Overheating |
A 70–85% hatch of eggs set is a good result. General incubation mistakes are covered in home egg incubation, and raising quail after that in starting a quail farm and what to feed quail.
Every setting in numbers
In EggPulse each setting has its own dates and tasks: how many eggs went in, when to candle, and when to stop turning. At the end the hatch rate is calculated, so different settings can be compared.
