Chook Me!

My mother quail has left the nest after 21 days.. a baby was still alive when i cracked an egg open?

The mother left the nest for two days now...so i cracked an egg open this morning and a baby was still alive..it gasped and then i felt not long after it died..The mother had nine eggs to look after..What went wrong?..and was there too many eggs to look after?...and where can i get a cheap incubator from?...thankyou..love Michelle xxx ooo

Public Comments

1. check with a chicken hatchery- local yellow pages, a zoo or maybe a vets office would be of assistance... Good luck !! you quail lover....
2. A lot of livestock/game birds like, chickens, ducks, and quails and things won't sit on eggs at all, or they'll sit on the eggs for a little while and then leave the nest, i don't really know why, i've always assumed it was because they're not very smart. I'm not sure how many days quail eggs take to hatch, but most birds won't sit longer than it would take the eggs to hatch. Maybe the hen just thought it had been too long, and gave up? Hardware/farm supply stores often sell incubators, and there are ways to rig one (internet can help with that). Usually it is best to take the eggs away and incubate them, the chicks have a better chance of surviving.
3. I dont remember much with the details on quail, how long they sit, etc. but i will venture to say and can only assume the hen to know what she is doing, meaning that those egg are very soon ot hatch and she knows this. By the way, an egg is strong against even the weight of a parent bird sitting upon it, but soon as a chick so much as cracks that shell its not fit for a parent to sit on. The chicks will remain warm enough and need to become better acclimated to air temperatures after hatching, so that is whats happening. My suggestion is to leave the hen to care for the eggs until you can make further determination. You may candle to see what is happening inside the shells.
4. Here is a site for a home made incubator.... http://members.cox.net/lovetiels/incubator.html Good luck!
5. Why would you crack open an egg? If it wasn't incubated it would just stink and make a mess, and if it was the baby would die. Either way nothing good could have come from it.
6. 21 days, what kind of quail was it as some have short (17 to 18 days) hatching time whereas others have longer (23 - 24days). Sounds like she had just plain given up, sometimes the mother birds just know that not all is well inside the eggs. Try a farm supply store for an incubator, they outa be able to help you out.