How many hours can quail stay in incubator?
When they are dry
The simple answer: when they are dry. Typically this is within 3-4 hours of hatching.
After a couple of hours their feathers will be dry and fluffy meaning they are ready to be moved to the brooder.
BUT that doesn’t mean you must move them, just they are ready. They will be fine in the incubator for a while longer.
No more than 24 hours in the incubator
Not wanting them to dehydrate, it is best to take the new quail out of the incubator in less than 24 hours.
I will typically wait until there is a pausing in hatching and there is a group of dry quail ready to remove.
Also, game birds will not have the same reserves that other birds are borne with like chickens. Make sure you remove chicks at least once a day after they start hatching. Also, make sure to have food and water available immediately in the brooder.
Removing them in groups will minimize the opening of the incubator and the sudden drops in temperature and humidity.
Don’t worry about the humidity levels
There will be a drop in temperature and humidity when the incubator is opened, but it is nothing to worry about unless you open it too frequently.
In most incubators, the temperature will recover quickly. Also, as additional quail hatch and begin to dry the humidity level will also recover.
So don’t worry too much about it, just don’t keep opening the darn thing.
Have your brooder ready!
Long before you get to worrying about removing hatched quail, make sure your brooder is setup with food, water, and up to temperature.
More questions?
If you have any more questions, first check out my Quail FAQ post and if you need something more feel free to contact me.
I have been told that they can fly or jump at birth . I hatch chicks a lot and use a clear tote and a netted hole in the lid to hold heat down . It also keeps little hands out. I start with shavings then a old towel and a heat light above. I haven’t done quail for 20 years, and forgot a lot and lost my old friend that knew every thing. I think I am just to full of questions. Thanks for the help.
Any thing I can do to help or questions I can answer, feel free to post them here!
how hot do the incobatore be and what do you have to do to hatch the
eggs what steps
They should run at 99.5F (37.5C) for forced air incubators. I recommend you do a search to get the exact steps for your incubator.
I have an old leahy incubator(416) the manual egg turner provided with the incubator trays seems to really turn the quail eggs. Should I be using those manual turners?
If I turn the eggs by hand, they will be out of the incubator for a spell, twice or 3 times a day, how does this affect the eggs and hatch rates? That’s why I’ve been using the manual turner, it only takes a few seconds to turn each tray.
While the opening of the incubator can reduce your hatch rate, not turning them would mean no hatch. I would continue to use the manual turner if that works for you and reduces open the incubator.
I have 3 bobwhite quails in my incubator developed and ready to hatch (all pipped) I’ve had a hatched quail in my incubator since 6am this morning, it’s now 8pm and my second just hatched. The first is dry and very energetic (pecking the new Hatcher a bit). However my third pipped just under a day after the two that have hatched. So he might take a while to hatch now. I was wondering when I should take the two dry ones out and I’m worried about ‘shrink wrapping’ the last fella in the 3rd and final egg.
You can wait up to 24 hours. While the possibility of ‘shrink wrapping’ is a concern, loosing the w other two to dehydration is also a co cern. Be quick about removing the other two and close the incubator as fast as you can to recover the humidity levels.