Incubating your Quail eggs
Once you receive your eggs, you will need to let them settle for 24 hours at room temperature before you start the incubation process.
Your incubator should have been up and running in preparation for the eggs arrival.... any spikes or drops in temperature will decrease your success so the incubator needs to be settled before the eggs are added.
The best temperature for hatching Japanese Quail is 37.5 degrees C or 100 degrees F... any warmer and you will get an early hatch with the possibility of deformities, any lower and you will get a late hatch with a chance of the embryos dying before they hatch. Personally I don't put any water in the incubator for the first 14 days but add water on the 15th day to raise the humidity to around 75% so the chicks don't get dried out while hatching... the inner membrane can shrink down onto the chick if the incubator is too dry which will restrict its ability to move around and hatch properly... this will result in the death of the chick.
When the eggs are first placed in the incubator it is normal for the temperature to drop dramatically due to the fact that the eggs are so much colder than the inside temperature of the incubator. It will rise back up gradually as the eggs warm up. Don't be tempted to fiddle with the heat setting as any heat spikes will kill the developing cells.
Unless you have an automatic turner in your incubator you will need to turn the eggs by hand to stop the embryo sticking to one side of the shell..... They need to be turned three to five times a day (the more the better) but always an odd number so each night when the eggs are left for a long time without turning they are on the opposite side each night..... Mark the eggs with a cross on one side so that you can tell when they have been turned.
This will go on for the first 14 days... on the 15th day you stop turning (so that the embryo can get into position for hatching)... and wait for the exciting bit. On the 16th or 17th day the chick will peck a hole in the shell... don't panic if there is no immediate signs of more happening... it can take hours and hours for the chick to hatch fully... sometimes they are out in minutes, sometimes they take ages... but it is best not to intervene as its the hatching process that makes the chick absorb the last of the yolk sack... early intervention will result in a chick with a bag of yolk still outside of the umbilicus which will ultimately lead to death. Nature has a way of weaning out the sickly, weak or deformed chicks... all of which will not make healthy adult birds... as hard as it is, its best to leave nature to take its course.
Very important advice
Please don't let anyone open the incubator to look at the chicks or handle them for a full 24 hours after they start to hatch as they need the humidity constant all the times. If humidity drops for any reason after pipping they won't be able to hatch and will suffocate and die inside the egg shell. The chicks don't need nourishment until 24 hours after they hatch as the yoke is still inside them.
How to Sex Your Quail
It won't be too long after your little chicks have hatched when you will be wondering what sex they are going to be.
You won't be able to check them out until they have reached about six weeks old. This is when the colour of the chest feathers will change colour; orange for the male and speckled for the female. Also the males start to get very vocal. At this age they will stick their heads up high and let out a very distinguished noise (crow).
At eight weeks old, the sure way to check out the sex of any of your young quails that you are not sure about is to pick them up and turn them over with the bottom facing you and gently squeeze each side of the bottom at the same time. Wear some rubber gloves for this task if you feel a bit squeamish. If when you squeeze and some white frothy liquid comes out, it is a male. A female on the other hand, will be as clear and clean as she should be.