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April 14, 2007
Incubating Quail Eggs
Jennifer and I are trying to hatch some Coturnix quail eggs. We ordered 50, but 4 were cracked, so she put 46 into the Little Giant incubator. Now, the incubator is not a shabby one. It automagically turns the eggs, it has a thermostat, a heater, and circulating fan. But even still, it isn't exactly plug-and-play. It came with this dinky little thermometer that was about 10 degrees off. The fine print on the thermometer tells you that it needs to be calibrated, but it was a week before I sat down and really played with it. When I got my hands on things, the fan wasn't working, and the temperature in the incubator was 108. Ideal temperature is 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit, but they say that from 98 to 102 is acceptable. That would mean that 108 is not acceptable. Also, the humidity at my house is close to zero. So, I finally put it in a small room with a large humidifier and set the humidifier to "stun". Right now, the humidity is at 43%. 60% is the target though. So, I'm not really sure how this experiment will turn out. Now, don't get me wrong. We don't need 44 baby quail. We don't really even need 1. But, it would be cool to hatch some. If it doesn't work out this go-round, then we'll order another 50 and try again. Next time we'll be ready. :)
Posted by Rob Kiser on April 14, 2007 at 8:41 PM
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