Thats the good thing about working with numbers. Outside of a catastrophic failure if you get a few duds your still in the game. But a lose when working with species that lay at best two eggs a season will really put holes in your bucket. Quitters never win. You'll do well.
Nice pen/coop! It is good you have the mesh overlapped over the hex wire on the sides. Mesh doesn't stretch. You must be putting in a French drain?? Pop was from Franklin...the soil was never near so loamy there.
Some breeds/species of aves are more aggressive than others. After switching focus to a gentler line it is a pleasure to enter a pen without the need of a garbage can lid.
I like the digital with remote probes for the same reason (easy to read). The wire in the leads are tiny, won't endure much bending or rough handling. The temp/humidity combo type was a bust. The humidity part of the probes failed consistently @ >68-75% .
With shipped eggs sometimes you can get a mixture of causes for hatch failure with the only obvious one that comes to mind being clear eggs. X-ray, older stock, bacterial infection can render similar results e.g. weak and or deformed chicks. It would be to hard differentiate without some...
Oh Mr. NoShoulders, know him well...You'll need to go higher than 2 ft to keep the snakes out. Keep the grass short, leaves, brush/ornamentals, compost piles as far away from your runs as possible. Too, Timber and Copperheads both have a camouflage that blend in very well with these things too...
I tried plexiglass over the window opening of a brood house sometime ago. They get brittle with age. Guys in receiving save up bubble wrap for me. I just pull it tight along the edges as I staple it in place.
"....we are getting old and don't want to have to re-do it in a few years."
LOL...I turned 61 last month and a T8 paraplegic at that. If these pens (and myself) last another 32 years I probably won't be too concerned about rebuilding them.
CapricornFarm, I'm aware that it is the same material and no doubt something can tear into it. I can only attest to my own experiences. The runs are empty at night.
Just rebuilt a few 32 year old runs, and decided to use 1" x 1" hex for sides and tops instead of 2" hex this time merely to keep the wild birds out. Same as last time after it has weathered several months I'll use roller to apply exterior latex paint to extend the lifespan.
With ground...
For such a short duration don't stress over it. Incubating so few eggs this past summer I decided to try out Hovabator Genesis. It worked flawlessly on several hatches of chicken eggs (BCM using dry hatch method) but lo and behold, second night after starting up the 50 quail eggs the temperature...
Oxygen supply tubing run through the side of the incubator with outside end(s) plug into a large syringe and your good to go. The foam type incubators I run a line to each reservoir. Works using a wet bulb too with a bit more modification.
This past August I incubated 50 Georgia Giants from Wadly. The room temps bounced between 78 - 80 degrees (air conditioner running). Incubation was kept at 99.5 F and the humidity at 60%, bumped up to 75% the last three days. Incubator was only opened once to remove the turner, place eggs in...
....polluted water/soil...distance the infected ASP by at least 20 ft from any poultry, ducks... whatever. Bring them in house or whatever you think you need permissible. Quail of any species don't fair well living in close proximity of any poultry/duck, ect. Off ground is the standardized norm...
For me, I would isolate into selected pair/trio/quad. Give a few weeks to be certain. When breeding to specs it is best and most adventitious to have in pairs/trios.
How To Clip Trim The Wings Of Your Chicken To Prevent Flight
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/how-to-clip-trim-the-wings-of-your-chicken-to-prevent-flight.47727/