How to Incubate Coturnix Quail Eggs
The short version
| Incubation temp (forced-air) | 99.5–100°F (37.5–37.8°C) |
|---|---|
| Still-air temp (top of egg) | 101.5–103°F (38.6–39.4°C) |
| Humidity (days 1–lockdown) | 50–60% |
| Humidity (lockdown–hatch) | 65–75% |
| Total incubation | 17–18 days |
| Lockdown day | Day 15 |
| Candle around | day 7, day 10, day 14 |
Day-by-day schedule
| Day | Phase | What to do | Temp | Humidity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Days 1–7 | Incubation | Set eggs small-end slightly down or on their side and turn 3–5 times a day (an odd number so they rest on alternate sides overnight), or use a quail-rail autoturner. Everything moves fast on the coturnix schedule, so get temperature and humidity dead-stable in the first 24 hours. | 99.5–100°F | 50–60% |
| Days 8–14 | Incubation | Keep turning and hold temperature steady. Candle around day 7–10 to pull clears (infertile) and quitters, accepting that the dark-speckled shells make coturnix eggs hard to read — work in a very dark room with a bright, focused candler. Day 14 is the last turning day. | 99.5–100°F | 50–60% |
| Day 15 | Lockdown | Stop turning. Lay eggs on their side on hatcher liner, raise humidity to 65–75%, and keep the incubator closed — opening it now can shrink-wrap chicks. Line the floor with rubber shelf liner or paper towel (not slick plastic or newspaper) so hatchlings get traction. This is 'lockdown.' | 99.5–100°F | 65–75% |
| Days 16–17 | Hatch | Chicks internally pip into the air cell, then externally pip the shell; most coturnix hatch on day 17. Expect fast, energetic hatching from tiny eggs. Resist opening the lid — humidity loss stalls pipped siblings. | 99.5–100°F | 65–75% |
| Day 18 | Hatch | Stragglers finish. Leave chicks in the incubator to dry and fluff for several hours before moving them to a pre-warmed brooder. Discard eggs that have not hatched a day past the expected window. | 99.5–100°F | 65–75% |
Why coturnix are the fast lane of incubation
Coturnix (Japanese) quail hatch in about 17–18 days — Texas A&M AgriLife Extension lists japanese quail at 17–18 days and Mississippi State University Extension cites 17 days. That is three to four days shorter than a chicken and pairs with famously early maturity: coturnix can be laying by six to eight weeks. The upside for hatchers is quick turnaround; the downside is that every mistake compounds fast, so calibrate your thermometer and hygrometer before you set eggs.
The whole schedule shifts earlier to match. Turning stops and lockdown begins on day 15 (Mississippi State specifies stopping turning on the 15th day; Texas A&M lists a transfer-to-hatcher day of 15), versus day 18 for chickens. If you run chickens and quail in the same machine, keep their calendars separate — a quail clutch is already pipping while a chicken clutch is still mid-incubation.
Temperature and humidity
Run a forced-air incubator at 99.5–100°F — Texas A&M lists 99.5°F for japanese quail and Mississippi State cites 100°F. A still-air incubator has no fan, so warm air layers near the top; measure at the top of the eggs and run about 101.5–103°F there (Mississippi State advises adding 2–3°F to the forced-air figure for still-air machines).
For humidity, Texas A&M lists 58–62% relative humidity during incubation for japanese quail, rising to 66–74% at the hatcher; Mississippi State cites 85–86°F wet-bulb during incubation (roughly 55–57% RH) and 90°F wet-bulb for the last three days (roughly 70% RH). A practical target is 50–60% through day 14, then 65–75% at lockdown. As with any species, the air cell is the real guide — candle and adjust so it grows to roughly a third of the egg by lockdown.
Candling and brooding tiny chicks
Candling coturnix is genuinely harder than candling chickens because the shells are small and heavily speckled. Work in a fully dark room with a bright, focused LED candler and look for the same signs — a spreading web of veins and a dark, moving embryo. If a clutch is too dark to read, it is fine to skip aggressive culling and simply let questionable eggs ride to lockdown.
Have the brooder running before hatch. Extension brooding guidance starts chicks around 95–100°F under the heat source for the first week, dropping about 5°F per week. Because newly hatched coturnix are so small, use fine mesh they cannot slip through and a waterer filled with marbles or clean pebbles so they can drink without drowning.
Calculate your hatch dates
Enter the date you set your coturnix quail eggs to get your candling, lockdown, and hatch dates — with a calendar download.
Pick a species and the date you set the eggs to see your candling, lockdown, and hatch dates.
Dry-hatch vs standard humidity
- The 'dry hatch' approach runs lower humidity (roughly 40–50%) through the first two weeks and relies on watching the air cell grow, then raising humidity hard at lockdown. It suits humid climates or big-air-cell shipped eggs; drier-climate hatchers usually need the standard 50–60% extension range to keep the air cell from growing too fast.
- Whichever method you pick, candle and adjust to the air-cell size, not to a fixed humidity number. Because coturnix incubation is so short, an air cell that runs too large or too small shows up within days, so check it more often than you would with chicken eggs.
Shipped eggs
- Let shipped eggs rest small-end down / large-end up for 8–24 hours before setting so scrambled air cells can re-settle.
- Coturnix eggs are small and light, so they take a beating in transit — shipped hatches of 30–50% are common even when everything is done right. Set two to three times as many as the number of birds you want.
- If air cells are wobbly or detached ('saddled'), incubate upright in an egg carton with the cups cut down for the first week and hand-turn gently.
Common pitfalls
- Trying to read dark, speckled coturnix shells like clear chicken eggs — many are nearly impossible to candle, so don't cull an egg just because you can't see veining; wait and float-test or leave it to lockdown.
- Turning past day 14 (lockdown is day 15, not day 18 like chickens), which crowds the fast coturnix timeline and interferes with pipping.
- Under-building the brooder: day-old coturnix are tiny enough to squeeze through half-inch hardware cloth and to drown in an open waterer — use fine mesh and fill founts with marbles or pebbles.
- Expecting to vent-sex chicks at hatch — coturnix cannot be reliably sexed until adult plumage and (in wild-type birds) breast color or the male's foam-gland appear around 3 weeks.
Frequently asked questions
- What temperature do I incubate coturnix quail eggs at?
- 99.5–100°F in a forced-air incubator, or about 101.5–103°F measured at the top of the eggs in a still-air incubator.
- What day is lockdown for coturnix quail eggs?
- Day 15. Stop turning, raise humidity to 65–75%, and keep the incubator closed until the chicks hatch around day 17.
- How long do coturnix quail eggs take to hatch?
- 17–18 days — most hatch on day 17. That is one of the shortest incubation periods of any commonly hatched poultry.
- What humidity do I need for hatching coturnix quail eggs?
- Around 50–60% for the first two weeks, then 65–75% from lockdown on day 15 through hatch. Use the air-cell size as your real guide — it should reach about a third of the egg by lockdown.
- Why are coturnix quail eggs so hard to candle?
- Their shells are small and heavily speckled, so light doesn't pass through cleanly. Use a bright, focused candler in a fully dark room, and don't cull an egg just because you can't see veining — let questionable eggs ride to lockdown.
- Can I tell male from female coturnix chicks at hatch?
- No. Coturnix cannot be reliably sexed at hatch. In wild-type (pharaoh) birds, breast color and the male's cloacal foam gland appear around 3 weeks; many color mutations can only be sexed by DNA or by waiting for eggs.
Sources
- Incubating and Hatching Eggs (Table 1: japanese quail — 17–18 days, 99.5°F, 58–62% RH, transfer day 15) — Texas A&M AgriLife Extension (University extension)
- Important incubation factors (Coturnix quail — 17 days, 100°F, stop turning 15th day) — Mississippi State University Extension Service (University extension)