Incubation of quail eggs at home in detail for beginners

Quails often do not hatch chicks themselves, so they are bred in an incubator. For successful breeding, you need not only to purchase a good incubator, but also to choose the right eggs and save them. Consider the rules for incubating quail eggs, how to maintain temperature and humidity, what stages to do at what stages, how to avoid common mistakes.

Egg selection

Quail families for hatching eggs consist of 1 male and 3-4 females. If there are more females, this will lead to a decrease in fertility and the number of chicks. For incubation at home, eggs of medium size, regular oval shape, color characteristic of the quail breed, with a matte surface are selected.The shell should be firm, without sags, cracks. Too small and large should not be taken. All those selected are checked on an ovoscope or in the light. Candling can reveal hidden imperfections such as incorrect size and position of the air chamber, blood inclusions, mixed albumen and yolk.

Before laying in the incubator, they can be stored for no more than 1-1.5 weeks at a temperature of 15 ° C, before storage and incubation can not be washed. Water washes away the protective film, and bacteria enter the eggs.

Bookmark process

Before laying quail eggs in the incubator, it must be washed and disinfected. Then treat with an ultraviolet emitter for 5-8 minutes, keeping it at a distance of 0.4 m from surfaces.

After preparation, set the temperature, put containers of water and leave for a couple of hours until it warms up.

Quail eggs should be laid vertically, up with a blunt end, in some models - horizontally.The term for breeding quail takes, on average, 17 days. If the incubation is carried out correctly, the quails hatch together. But hatching may be delayed for 1-2 days, which is most likely due to a violation of the incubation regime or the fact that the quality of the eggs was initially low.

Correct Humidity

Humidity in quail incubation is not as important as in breeding ducks and geese, but still it must be maintained at a sufficient level. Dry air at the initial stage can lead to water starvation of the embryos, when the hatching time comes - to the drying of the shells under the shell, as a result of which the chicks will not be able to break through the shell.

Conversely, high humidity may help hatch, but during the budding period it will be harmful - dampness increases the likelihood of bacterial infections and mold. From the 1st to the 15th day of quail incubation, it is necessary to maintain a humidity of 50-60%, from 15 to 17 - 50%, when the chicks begin to hatch - 80-90%.

Temperature conditions during the incubation period

To control the temperature in the incubator, a thermometer is installed. It should be located at the level of trays with quail eggs in order to fix the temperature near them. During the entire incubation of quail eggs, the temperature changes little, only by tenths of a degree.

For example, for the first 15 days, quail eggs should be kept at 37.5-37.7 ˚С, the next 2 days - at 37.2-37.5 ˚С and when hatching - at 37.0-37, 2 ˚С. This scheme is recommended by most poultry farmers.

Incubation stages and hatching day

Let's consider in detail for beginners what needs to be done during the development of quails. In addition to following the temperature and humidity schedule, the eggs need to be turned over, this is necessary so that the quail embryos inside do not stick to the shell.In addition to turning over, it is necessary, starting from the 3rd day of the incubation period, to spray them and ventilate the incubator. Airing is convenient to do during turning, if it is done manually. If automatically - then 2 times a day, morning and evening.

When hatching, the eggs do not need to be turned, the chicks will hatch without a coup. The ventilation time is set at first for 2-3 minutes, then increases and lasts for 5-7 minutes.

You need to spray in such a way that they are slightly damp, but not wet, in this case, after closing the unit, condensation may appear. You need to start spraying not immediately after the incubator is opened, but after a couple of minutes have passed and the quail eggs have cooled down.

Turning over, if you put quail eggs vertically, is carried out by tilting the trays 45 ° in one direction, and then in the other direction. When loaded vertically, eggs are turned 90-180 ˚.

When it's time to hatch, the chicks will begin to peck through the shell. Withdrawal may take 1-2 days. You can not help quails to get out of the shell, they must do it themselves. Quail chicks that have hatched from eggs should be left in the incubator until they dry out, the fluff becomes fluffy. After that, they must be selected from the unit and placed in a brooder with a temperature of 32-35 ˚С.

Choosing an incubator

For breeding quails, you can use incubators of domestic or foreign production. They can breed not only quails, but also chickens, goslings, ducklings and chicks of other poultry. The main thing is that there are trays with recesses of the right size.

The device requirements are as follows:

ease of use;
automated work, in order to do almost nothing manually;
quail safety;
high percentage of hatchability;
acceptable combination of value and quality.

Incubators "Layer", "Teplusha", "Ryabushka", "Cinderella", "Ideal mother hen", "Blitz 48", "Comfort" are popular with poultry farmers. These are compact, containing a small number of eggs, simple in design and cheap in price, devices that any poultry farmer can afford to purchase. According to poultry farmers, the best incubators are produced by South Korea, they are fully automated and work reliably. Of course, you will have to pay more for them.

Typical beginner mistakes

The choice of incubation device is important, but you also need to know how to avoid possible mistakes. Each of them can lead to the death of chicks at any stage of development or during hatching.

First of all, this is a violation of the temperature or humidity regime, irregular turning, improper spraying. Quail embryos can stick to the shell or suffocate during the hatching period from a lack of oxygen and an excess of carbon dioxide. You can identify this problem by the fact that the chick lies in the egg with its head towards the sharp end. This is often due to increased temperature, lack of cooling. In such conditions, quails hatch prematurely, they are small and painful, and may die in the first few days.

Mistakes can be understood if we evaluate those killed in quail eggs. With each subsequent bookmark, an understanding of what and how to do it right will come.

Hatching quail eggs is often the only way to get quail at home. To do this, you must have a small incubator, fertilized eggs and know the rules for incubation.