Broody quail & predator questions

[Murdock624]

I realize there are several posts about broody quail, but I do have some questions that I don't think have been asked before. Ok, I have a quail with eggs that are due to start hatching in the next day or two. We've been raising quail for a little over a year now, but this is the first time one has been broody. She is in a hutch by herself because she tends to get bullied by the others. When I noticed that she was sitting on her eggs, I removed them and replaced them with fertilized eggs. I saw a post in a FB group about a mama quail that ended up scalping one of her chicks and was pecking at another one. How concerned should I be about mine doing this? Is this something that happens often? I am planning on moving her and the chicks into a storage bin on our deck. The lid has sections cut out and is covered with 1/2 in hardware cloth. At what point should I move them? Should I go head and move them before they hatch or wait until they've all hatched? I have a trail cam set up and we've been having a nightly raccoon visitor. So far, he's left the quail alone, although he's dug around under their hutches (they're up off the ground). We haven't decided how to handle this yet, but I'm worried that he'll try to pull the chicks through the wire since they're so small. My husband and I have predator-proofed as much as we can, but it still makes me nervous which is why I was going to move them into the storage bin. That way, I can easily bring them in the house if I need to. Anyway, if anyone has any advice, I'd appreciate it. Thanks in advance!

 

[MadamContrary]

If you have some extra hardware cloth you could temporarily wrap the base of the hutch she's in, if I'm reading it correctly that's she's in her own elevated hutch right now. I can't speak to your other questions but @FloorCandy has broody information.

 

[FloorCandy]

I moved my hen to a plastic bin indoors with a hardware cloth cut out in the lid when she had been sitting for 1-2 days, and they remained there until I took the chicks out. She was a wonderful mother and never harmed any of them, and even adopted an older chick when hers were about 5 days old. At about 10-12 days old the hen started plucking the backs of the chicks who were still being too needy, and I removed them to a brooder and put her back with her friends. I would be nervous about a raccoon opening the bin and taking your hen and chicks, a rule of thumb is that a raccoon can open anything that a six year old child can open.

 

[Murdock624]

Thank you so much. This gives me an idea of what to expect. I was leaning toward moving them to the storage bin so it would be easier for me to keep an eye on them and so I could bring them in at night. I don't know if this raccoon has been up on our deck before but I've seen evidence of him being pretty close to the house. I've been taking our dog out so he can mark his territory around the quail hutches, but that doesn't seem to both the raccoon at all. He just keeps coming back. This pic was taken last night.

 

[Murdock624]

If you have some extra hardware cloth you could temporarily wrap the base of the hutch she's in, if I'm reading it correctly that's she's in her own elevated hutch right now. I can't speak to your other questions but @FloorCandy has broody information.

Unfortunately, I'm out of hardware cloth. I do have some chicken wire, but I don't think that would be enough to stop a raccoon.

 

[MadamContrary]

Unfortunately, I'm out of hardware cloth. I do have some chicken wire, but I don't think that would be enough to stop a raccoon.

No, definitely not. Maybe a temporary solid floor with a couple layers of cardboard and cover with paper towels, you can pull one layer out at a time as gets soiled, or just replace as needed? if you can't bring her inside or into a garage?

 

[Murdock624]

No, definitely not. Maybe a temporary solid floor with a couple layers of cardboard and cover with paper towels, you can pull one layer out at a time as gets soiled, or just replace as needed? if you can't bring her inside or into a garage?

I'm thinking I'll just bring them in. She does have a house with a solid floor, but if any chicks were to wander onto the wire, they could get pulled through. And I'd feel better if I could keep a closer eye on them anyway. Would bringing them in at night, but putting them on the deck during the day be too hard on them with the temp change? If so, I'll find a place to keep them inside. I'm in north GA and it's been hot and muggy down here so it might be better to just keep them inside anyway. We're in the middle of a remodel so my house is a mess and we don't have a ton of room at the moment. That's the only reason I'm asking about moving them to the deck. We don't have a garage. The previous owners of our house turned it into a bedroom. We're looking to move, but the housing market is insane right now.

 

[FloorCandy]

I'm thinking I'll just bring them in. She does have a house with a solid floor, but if any chicks were to wander onto the wire, they could get pulled through. And I'd feel better if I could keep a closer eye on them anyway. Would bringing them in at night, but putting them on the deck during the day be too hard on them with the temp change? If so, I'll find a place to keep them inside. I'm in north GA and it's been hot and muggy down here so it might be better to just keep them inside anyway. We're in the middle of a remodel so my house is a mess and we don't have a ton of room at the moment. That's the only reason I'm asking about moving them to the deck. We don't have a garage. The previous owners of our house turned it into a bedroom. We're looking to move, but the housing market is insane right now.

I would move them as little as possible, it makes the hens nervous. You don’t want her abandoning the chicks. I put mine in a 66qt container which is not very large, and put it on a shelf in a quiet corner.

 

[MadamContrary]

I'm thinking I'll just bring them in. She does have a house with a solid floor, but if any chicks were to wander onto the wire, they could get pulled through. And I'd feel better if I could keep a closer eye on them anyway. Would bringing them in at night, but putting them on the deck during the day be too hard on them with the temp change? If so, I'll find a place to keep them inside. I'm in north GA and it's been hot and muggy down here so it might be better to just keep them inside anyway. We're in the middle of a remodel so my house is a mess and we don't have a ton of room at the moment. That's the only reason I'm asking about moving them to the deck. We don't have a garage. The previous owners of our house turned it into a bedroom. We're looking to move, but the housing market is insane right now.

Well, at least everything is dusty already! It's definitely a seller's market right now. Makes it tricky when you need find a new home, you can get a good price on your current one but then everything on the market is so expensive! We've been contemplating buying an RV and selling our house.

Edited because I got completely off track! If it's a solid floor you can just create a short apron around the exposed wire to keep the chicks from being grabbed.

 

[Murdock624]

Thank y'all so much! I'll update when they start hatching. So excited!