Attempted Grocery Store Quails

[Ferra]

We want quail eventually, and once we've moved out of the city, probably chickens. There was a great sale on a hard-plastic incubator with an auto-turner. We don't have a use for it, yet, but figured since it was <50% usual cost, it was worth grabbing a few months ago.

So I was in the local asian market a week or two back trying to find some natto, and saw the quail eggs. I bought a package, on a whim, as occasionally my husband and I enjoy tiny omelettes.

For kicks, we decided to put about a third of the package into the incubator and do a test run - see how the humidity holds and how often we have to fill it. I wasn't expecting success - you don't generally get fertile eggs in north american supermarkets. Also I have no clue how long these were on the shelf. I was expecting to make stink-bombs, in all likelyhood.

It's day 10 of the incubator test, and I decided to test a trick I read about placing the eggs in 99F water, so as not to cold shock them, and seeing which float to determine if the eggs are developing. (since candling is hard through the dark, speckled shells of the quail eggs) I was expecting a bunch of sunken eggs.

Nope! 7 out of 10 are floating.

I might have a tiny flock of grocery store quail soon!

The good news is I DO have everything I need for them, except for the food. I'd have to see if I could find a game-bird feed (unlikely), or hopefully an un-medicated layer concentrate or similar.

 

[MaggieJ]

So cool, Ferra!

Hope they all hatch!
:egghatch: :egghatch: :egghatch: :egghatch:
:egghatch: :egghatch: :egghatch: :egghatch:

 

[2CrazyFools]

Not to be a debbie-downer, I really hope they hatch! But that could also mean they are rotten and the gasses built up inside the egg shells cause them to float. This sounds like a common household test where if you are unsure if the eggs are still good to consume or not you place them into a bowl of water and any eggs that float you toss out.

 

[Ferra]

Not to be a debbie-downer, I really hope they hatch! But that could also mean they are rotten and the gasses built up inside the egg shells cause them to float. This sounds like a common household test where if you are unsure if the eggs are still good to consume or not you place them into a bowl of water and any eggs that float you toss out.

It is entirely possible - sour gas stink bombs are the most likely outcome.

I am going based on the "instructions" for the test that indicates that spoiled eggs like that would float "high", eg 45% of it above the water. In theory, good eggs float low, just touching the surface to 10% above, and undeveloped eggs sink. This is why I seem unusually optimistic - these seven seemed to match the description for good eggs very well.

BUT! It could just be that they're only half-rotten at this point, right?!

Either way, we'll see. If they happen to hatch, I'll be back here in 7-9 days with photos of very tiny birds!

 

[2CrazyFools]

Really looking forward to it!! That'd be just awesome!

 

[GBov]

Brill! Cant wait to see what happens! opcorn:

 

[Nyctra]

I see quail eggs candled all the time. :shock: I think you need a really good tiny light though. :lol:
Good luck, though!
There's a chance you could get some fertile eggs I think. Depending on color, quail can be hard to sex, and given the conditions they're normally kept in for egg-laying (supposedly not as bad in practice as it looks), I can see boys easily going undetected. :mrgreen:

 

[Homer]

opcorn: :icecream: :beer:

 

[Ferra]

Well, they were re-floated last night on Day 14 before being removed from the egg turner and going into lockdown. The three sinkers have changed and now float, one might be floating a touch too high, and the rest are about the same as before.

I did not, sadly, see any eggs that were violently wriggling - that would have been proof positive of life in there if I had, though.

So in 2-6 days, I should have an answer. The birboretum (aka brooder) is ready and warm just in case the unusual happens.

 

[MaggieJ]

Waiting with bated breath . . . :lol:

 

[Homer]

2-6 days, no problem. I have plenty of beer and popcorn. I'm a little low on ice cream though. :laugh2:

 

[Ferra]

2-6 days, no problem. I have plenty of beer and popcorn. I'm a little low on ice cream though. :laugh2:

You inspired my husband - he brought home beer, ice cream and popcorn for birb-watch 2017.


I do have bad news though - we're midway through the "official" hatch time, day 17, and there are no signs of life. I probably will not have grocery store quail. I've learned some important lessons about the limitations of the float test. :angry:



...

I have some really weird good news though... Through an unusual set of circumstances (it's kinda a long story), a random acquaintance gifted me with 19 fertile quail eggs, 2 hatchlings, and 3 adult cortunix. Well, I say gifted, but it was partially a trade, as I brought one of my rabbits for his two girls to pet and play with, and I had a token sum I'd planned to give him for a couple of the eggs. (I had no plans to leave with live birds, or more than 6 eggs). Some of these birds I was given seem to have a random white/silver mutation popping up in them (I haven't figured out what genetics are involved yet). My instructions, with this gift, was to take these birds and try to make a nice mutant colored breeding line because you don't see quite as many of those around here.

The fluffy white-mutant-hatchlings are super happy in the brooder I had set up for the grocery-store babies. Though I had to google it... that "Paint me like one of your French Birbs" pose is actually NORMAL for quail... go figure. :lol:

 

[MaggieJ]

Too bad your grocery store quail eggs don't look promising, but the rest of your news is awesome! Those hatchlings are very cute!