I went to feed this morning, & in my quail pen, I see part of a snake under a half log. I went & got the shovel, flipped over the log, & Got it. It was a 5' black snake. Normally they can stick around, but mess with my birds! It had already eaten a hen. BUMMER. I wen't back to the house after feeding & my Min-Pin is very curious of the incubator. I'm due to hatch more quail, so I listened, looked in the window, & sure enough, 1 hatched, 1 trying, & several to go.
Quote:I think it was a quail hen, as it was found near the quails pen....or a 5' snake can eat a bantam hen - seen it!
Yes, A Jumbo Cotournix. I still have 6 hens & 2 cocks though, & more hatching. I have 3 different batches in the bator, about 50 eggs.
the same sort of thing happened to me- about a week after i got a leghorn chick from a school project, one of my mixed bantams died from the heat.