Our Hatch Rates here at
Bellamour Home Farm from our
Japanese Coturnix Quails
First Hatch Of The Year - April 2024
Tomorrow (22/03/24) 80 eggs will be going in two incubators to do our first hatch fertility test, from our new flocks. We now have 7 flocks of different colours and will be able to provide hatching eggs from a particular colour including black. This year will be all about the Quails and working on our black flock. Our colours are a mixed flock (with English white, roux, roux pharaoh, black, sparkly and white Italian), Black, Rosetta & Tibetan, Golden Italian, Pansy, Calico/Grey mixed and Standard Pharaoh.
The incubators I'm using are Brinsea Maxi 2 EX incubator and a Brinsea 24, excellent incubators and I highly recommend them.
I will update in about a week of how many are fertile, here's hoping the boys are doing their jobs well.
Update 5/4/24 - The eggs go into lockdown tomorrow morning and are due to hatch on day 18, its now day 14. Out of 80 eggs a total of 64 eggs will be going into lockdown, 8 out of each incubator were not fertile or hadn't progressed.
The next update will be how many hatch out of the 64!
The chicks have all hatched now and are thriving, out of the 64 eggs 56 hatched!
The fertility rate overall for all flocks is 78.75%, the hens have only just started to lay and the Roo's just matured so I'm hoping the next eggs will be a higher fertility.
The hatch rate overall for all flocks is 70%, which is very good.
Second Hatch Of The Year - April 2024
14/04/24 80 eggs have gone into the two incubators, yesterday on day 9 they were all checked for life. Out of 80 eggs 72 were fertile! So they will now continue til day 15 when they will be checked again for any quitters before lockdown!
The incubators I'm using are Brinsea Maxi 2 EX incubator and a Brinsea 24, excellent incubators and I highly recommend them.
The fertility rate overall for all flocks is 90%, that means the boys are busy at work.
I will update this page either before lockdown or after hatch.
I will have new bloodlines of black and pansy also soon, those eggs arrived today and are resting. They should be going in tomorrow!
UPDATE ON THIS HATCH:-
On lockdown we removed 1 quitter unfortunately, 62 went on to fully hatch and another 9 pipped internally/externally or both but weren't strong enough or in the wrong position. This is the hardest part of hatching knowing Mother Nature picks only the strongest. I tried to help some as a last resort but to no avail they just werent meant to be, the rest are all thriving and awaiting their new adventures.
Third Hatch Of The Year - April 2024
The third hatch is in our new incubator, its a Borotto Lumia 16 and so far I'm impressed. It doesn't have a humidity gauge which is a little worrying but I've had no issues with the eggs and they go into lockdown tomorrow which will be the 10th May 2024.
24 Eggs went in from a new friend from Heaven On Earth, 20 blacks and 4 pansy's. All were fertile and they were posted also but unfortunately we had one quitter. The remaining 23 are doing amazing. The other 40 eggs are from my birds and 38 out of them are fertile and doing great. Im looking forward to this hatch not only because its a new incubator with better viewing of the eggs and hatching but for my new blood lines.
I will update once they hatched!
Update the 23 eggs from Heaven On Earth did really well, one was a quitter unfortunately it stopped progressing. 1 died after internally and externally pipping this can happen if you open the incubator or just in the wrong position. So out of the 24 we have 21 chicks, all doing well...Im very happy! These little ones will create another black flock and also add to my pansy flock.
My 40 eggs....38 were fertile, I had 3 quitters sadly so 35 went into lockdown. Out of the 35, 33 hatched...2 pipped internally and externally but I didn't intervene as I didn't want to open the incubator and sadly they didn't make it. The 33 are doing amazing with some beautiful really dark black chicks that will be staying to hopefully join my other new bloodline black flock.
Fourth Hatch Of The Year - May 2024
This hatch is in my Brinsea 24 Ex, 40 eggs from my birds have gone in and on checking them last night 38 out of 40 are fertile, one egg wasn't fertile and one egg I'm not sure so not willing to give up on that egg just yet. I always wait on the harder to see eggs til around day 15 which is lockdown, I couldn't bear to think I had given up on a life.
My boys and girls are doing me proud and at the moment I'm at 95% Fertility and at 87.3% hath rate, it would be higher but as the chicks only pipped even externally they don't count.
Im happy with these, I would love the hatch rate to be higher purely as I don't like losing the at all...their to precious.
I will keep you update!
Update the eggs went into lockdown yesterday, 37 went in we had 2 x not fertile/1 x quitter. So far day 16 no pips which is a first but they've been put into the Borotto as its easy to see in etc so this incubator seems to be a little longer with the htching process compared to my Brinsea incubators.
Hopefully chicks soon!
Chick update 36 out of 37 hatched! That's a 97.5% hatch rate, unfortunately the one that didn't hatched looked like it stopped progressing in the last days. The 36 are all doing great, eating and drinking well. Our fertility rate at the moment is 95%.
Twelfth Hatch Of The Year - July 2024
This hatch is in my Borotto 16 Lumia, 54 eggs from my new flocks of young quails went in and all were fertile!
Come lockdown we had 6 quitters, no reason just not meant to be so the remainder eggs went in.
After the hatch we had 47 healthy happy chicks, losing one at pip. It pipped internally but not externally, this could be bad positioning.
Fertility at the moment is 100% and Hatch rate is around 90% so I'm very happy with that.
Thirtieth Hatch Of The Year - August 2024
Eggs are in the Brinsea at the moment, all the eggs are from feather sexable flocks so they are easier to sex whilst young. Ive got eggs in from the two new black flocks to see if true blacks so I can adjust my roosters as I have one black from new bloodlines that lays white so I want that out the lines, so that hen will go in a mix flock I have at the moment. then I've got eggs in to check fertility, so a lot going on so watch this space!
Out of 29 eggs we got 27 chicks, unfortunately 2 pipped internally/externally but didn't make it out and died. My hatch rate is 93.1% and the fertility rate is 92.3%.
As I type the two new black flock chicks are hatching out, I've divider the incubator so I can try work out which flock the white comes from.
Update on the black hatches we separated them and got 13 out of 14 from one hatch and 11 out 12 hatch..the ones we lost pipped but didn't fully make it out the egg.
Fourteenth Hatch Of The Year - September 2024
Eggs were in the Brinsea but at lockdown I put them into the Borotto so I could divide each colour into its own section. It worked great until the chicks started hatching and worked out they could get over to the other side. Im trying to work out the colours yeah flock lays and now know the Pharaoh flock lay roux. This flock I had 29/30 hatch which was a great hatch, the one that didnt make it pipped in and out but went through the yolk and drowned by the looks of it.
There are no more hatches now til November fingers crossed where I will continue working on my black flocks.