incubating bird eggs w/o incubator

[dtknow]

Just curious if anyone has ever tried this before? I have some button quail eggs my eggeaters are supposed to be eating but they aren't exactly in their hungry phase ATM so I don't think they will be finishing them.

I have them on a heatmat under a plastic cover with a thermostat and am trying to keep the temp at about 100.

 

[RoachGirlRen]

I'm guessing it will be somewhat tricky. Even in an incubator, people often goof up, especially if it's an old school one where you need to mist and rotate the eggs yourself.

What's the humidity under the container? Are you rotating them regularly? How long were they without warmth before you put them on the mat? Can you see embryos if you candle (ie. do you know they're fertile eggs worth this effort)?

 

[dtknow]

I'd imagine so...even if I only get 1 of these 4 to hatch it'd be a neat little experiment.


The humidity is not being measured but I put a small cup of water in there that has been evaporating so it is somewhat humid at least. I plan on rotating them at least 4-5 times a day. Guessing the eggs were probably a day or two old(can be viable for about a week in storage apparently). Since they were just put on I doubt I could see anything in there(especially with the thick colored shells on these eggs).

One problem is the temp dropping when I open the incubator to turn the eggs.

 

[RoachGirlRen]

It's actually probably important in a set-up like that for you to be opening it. Hot, stagnant air needs to be able to escape periodically, though trying to keep the temps from fluctuating more than a degree or so is also necessarry. Ventillation is crucial during incubation, which is why commercial units with an air exchange method are preferred. Hopefully you can meet some kind of a balance as it would be really interesting to see some hatch.

If you can find any info on how the species tends its eggs, it may help. Some species turn their eggs more than others, some sit on them longer than others, some have higher humidity needs than others, some have higher nest temperatures than others, etc. If you scroll down, you can find a pretty good info chart here by species.

 

[dtknow]

More than a degree or so is pretty much impossible.(that'd be between 101-102 in a still air).

I think I will at least have to use a styro box, a incandescent light and a water heater thermostat to do this.

 

[ErinKelley]

I did this with chicken eggs when I was a teenager. Our dog got to them though. Some were almost full term and within days of hatching. I figure they were probably making some noise. But yea he broke all of them. Grrrr I was SO mad at that dog....

It was just a box, not even styrofoam, on a human heat pad with newspaper stacked in between to get the right temp. I think I covered it with a piece of cardboard. Flipped them 3 or 4 times a day. Never misted.

Lol dont poke fun! I was young and dumb, Im surprised some grew to the point they did!

 

[dtknow]

Excellent. I might just try that.

Box was covered I assume? Did you monitor temps carefully?

 

[pouchedrat]

I'm currently incubating some button and coturnix quail eggs in a really REALLY cheapo egg incubator I bought on ebay for like 20 bux. Same reason, because my egg eater wouldn't eat them at the time. It's literally just a plastic bowl with a wire mesh over it, a tiny light bulb (same as a night light), and some foil to fiddle with to move the temperature up or down, and a plastic dome overhead. I keep water in the bowl underneath the wire mesh (the eggs sit on top of that) and have one of my reptile thermometers in it to monitor the temperatures of it. I turn them about 3 or 4 times a day and keep the water up underneath.

I figured if some hatch then ok, if not, then whatever, I tried. However, after a few days of incubation, I accidentally knocked it and two button quail eggs rolled off and smashed on the table. One was just yolk, but the second one had a tiny little fetus inside with a heart beating. I felt absolutely terrible!! BUT It means that this cheapo incubator IS working, and even though the button quail eggs were sitting there for 7 days (I turned them once or twice a day while they sat at room temperature until I decided to get the incubator) they are still viable.

These guys should hatch sometime in the middle of next week. The 4 Coturnix quail eggs came with the stupid incubator, and I just hope they're not TOO big compared to the buttons. I've had buttons before in the past, but never had experience with coturnix before, and these guys are going to be house pets, basically. There's 5 button quail eggs left, as well. Here's hoping not ALL of them hatch, haha.

They say sometimes it takes longer for the eggs to hatch, which just means the temps were a little too low. If they don't hatch right at the mark, wait a couple days and they may still hatch then.

 

[dtknow]

Coturnix get about the same size as CA quail/Bobwhites...maybe a tad smaller. Not exactly pretty birds but they supposedly make good pets(esp. for kids as they don't mind being picked up when socialized correctly). I can't decide if the cocks pitiful attempts at crowing are cute or annoying haha.

I saw those incubators. Mind explaining how the foil works?

 

[pouchedrat]

The foil is like a reflection for underneath the lightbulb. You can fluxuate how high or low the temperature is by how much foil is underneath, and how close/far away it is from the bulb. I've actually played with it and have gotten a great deal of difference temperature-wise depending on what the foil was like underneath, from 90 F all the way to 110 F. There's also a fine strip of foil on the side where the bulb directly sits to "deflect" the temperature away from the eggs resting on that side, or something like that. The biggest downside is I'm constantly readjusting the foil and bulb's distance to be completely perfect. Now that summer's hit, our inside temperature which was always a constant 70 seems to rise during the daytime despite the central AC.

The temps are manually adjusted by lowering or heightening the bulb's distance from the eggs, and the amount/location of the foil underneath the bulb. The eggs also have to be manually turned as well. It's cheap, but seems to work. If it does, I'll post pics.

edit- That's cool about coturnix. Our 4 year old's wonderful with pets, and I'm sure he'll enjoy them. From youtube videos I've watched, they seem more relaxed than buttons, but definitely larger. They also come when called? Awesome....