Back on the Quail Trail

Like getting back in the saddle after a fall, I thought it best to order more eggs and start trying again with the quail as soon as possible. Consequently I am back in the old routine of turning eggs every four hours.

One was damaged on arrival leaving eleven. They have now been in the incubator for 10 days. After 5 days I candled them and found no cracks and no obviously infertile eggs. All was going well. Around day 7 or 8 Ellie wandered into my room 'So how do you torch eggs?' she asked. I was taken aback, setting fire to them had never been my intention, She agreed that the word she had been looking for was candle. I chose one of the lightest eggs to show her, and she nearly dropped it, 'Aargh , it's moving!' she cried in a mixture of fascination and horror as if the tiny embryo was about to burst from the egg and attack her in a recreation of the scene from Alien. Sure enough though, the little red blob of cells, seen when a powerful light is shone through the egg shell, was moving of its own accord, probably put out by the brightness of the light.
So we know one of the embryos at least is alive and kicking.