My first Quail. A mini blog.

[Nabiki]

You might want to contact the seller and send the the photos of the damage. The package was probably insured, and that way, even if you get a decent hatch, they can still get compensated for the PO abusing your package. If you get a poor hatch, they will be more likely to send you some more eggs if they were able to claim the insurance.

 

[pac]

Thanks
I did send him pics showing how they had shifted in the foam and of the one cracked egg.
He said to make sure I let him know how many hatch.
I let him know today another hadn't survived the trip.

The box was insured for $100.


Today's work. In the strong winds that blew a storm in. But luckily wind passes right through hardware cloth.

I like the way the cloth pulled off the roll because the roll was hung up on my bed. Almost like it was on a spindle. The easiest time I ever had working with hardware cloth.

I got to break out my pneumatic staple gun, too. I bought it last year when I reupholstered a motorcycle seat.

When the storm rolled in I had to stop. I put another brace on because I didn't like the way the wind was making it sway. I'll beef up the legs once it's in place.

 

[pac]

This morning the incubator's temp was down one degree and the humidity was down to 20% on the Govee and 30% on the unit's display. Probably from the residual water after pouring it all out finally evaporating off.
So I bumped it up one degree and closed the vent a little. Will recheck in a few hours.

It's basically the same weather today as yesterday, but it's cloudy instead of sunny. Although sun would not be entering that room's window for another few hours.

Tomorrow it's supposed to be 20 degrees colder than today, but sunny. I may have to turn the heat up in that room. I think I read somewhere where the ambient temp wasn't supposed to be below 72. And that is where it's at now, but it feels colder than yesterday.

I don't want to go chasing optimum conditions every day. I know we're supposed to "Set it and forget it". So I'll hope I reach that point in the next few days.

 

[pac]

It's cold here again. 31 this morning.
Temp is good. Humidity down to 17. I opened the vent all the way and added water.

I also ordered another temp/humidity gauge off Amazon. One with a probe. I want to doublecheck things, plus I want a thermometer for the brooder I can easily read.

 

[pac]

The 'bator was humming right along the rest of the day. Good temp. Steady humidity. Perfect. We'll see what warming up tomorrow does.

Meanwhile, more work to the hutch.

Dang tree was in the way, so I couldn't get the hutch quite where I wanted it.

So...

I'll level it tomorrow and get the other two doors built.

I think I'll give them a little window in the front doors, too. I know I have some plexiglass or lexan downstairs somewhere.

This location will see early sun and late sun. It's facing south.

 

[pac]

Every time I think I'm out it keeps pulling me back in

I thought I was finally done. All I had to do was caulk the holes in the roofing I had repurposed. Levelling had really taken its toll on me today. Much harder than I thought it would be. And I was ready to be done.

And then I remembered... I still need a shelf for the bottom trays. That was something else I had held off on until it was in place.
So tomorrow I can stick a fork in this project. Which will sit for at least a month before use anyway.

 

[pac]

A picture of the hutch taken from my side porch.

Anything taking an interest in my birds using its sight is going to have to do so either from the front or the side. That's one of the reasons I wanted dropping trays for the bottom mesh area, too.

 

[pac]

Dug out the old brooder I used before for a few chicks.
It's sitting right below the incubator.

The bottom measure about 36x18. I'm hoping it will be OK for my hatch. Not that I want to lose a lot of birds. But out of 34 eggs I'm hoping for at least mid twenties.

I'm, also going to add some 1/2" hardware cloth to the top. Or maybe the same stuff, since I put the hardware cloth away yesterday. I'll just shift it so the openings are half that size. They are 2x3 now and I can see Murphy's Law working against me if I don't make them smaller.

 

[pac]

Eight days to go before lockdown... and candling.
I was giving candling some thought and decided the quickest way to grab a few eggs, put the lid back on and be quick about things while candling... was to NOT use the candler that comes built into the 360.

Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, the Incu-Bright that is so popular is a couple weeks out ordering from Amazon. And I could not find them at TSC or elsewhere.

So...

I added foam to the inside to make the hole diameter smaller. I think it will fit a quail egg now.
So I saved some money. And that's a good thing.
I could have used black tape to make it prettier, but that Gorilla tape sticks like the dickens. And I want to return my flashlight back to use after candling this batch.

Also, because there's no handle on the 360's lid and it can be a bit fiddly getting it back on so it's seated...

I did a quick off and back on and that handle really helps get the lid aligned again.

Now I am working on the brooder. I've got newspaper and blue paper towels layed in. I did it crossways and not the long way so I can lift one section out at a time to replace with fresh.

I just need to figure out that temp controller. It has way more settings than I was expecting. Good thing I got going on it.

 

[FatherFalcon]

Every time I think I'm out it keeps pulling me back in

I thought I was finally done. All I had to do was caulk the holes in the roofing I had repurposed. Levelling had really taken its toll on me today. Much harder than I thought it would be. And I was ready to be done.
View attachment 4076027


And then I remembered... I still need a shelf for the bottom trays. That was something else I had held off on until it was in place.
So tomorrow I can stick a fork in this project. Which will sit for at least a month before

Eight days to go before lockdown... and candling.
I was giving candling some thought and decided the quickest way to grab a few eggs, put the lid back on and be quick about things while candling... was to NOT use the candler that comes built into the 360.

Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, the Incu-Bright that is so popular is a couple weeks out ordering from Amazon. And I could not find them at TSC or elsewhere.

So...
View attachment 4078756

View attachment 4078757

I added foam to the inside to make the hole diameter smaller. I think it will fit a quail egg now.
So I saved some money. And that's a good thing.
I could have used black tape to make it prettier, but that Gorilla tape sticks like the dickens. And I want to return my flashlight back to use after candling this batch.

Also, because there's no handle on the 360's lid and it can be a bit fiddly getting it back on so it's seated...
View attachment 4078760

I did a quick off and back on and that handle really helps get the lid aligned again.

Now I am working on the brooder. I've got newspaper and blue paper towels layed in. I did it crossways and not the long way so I can lift one section out at a time to replace with fresh.

I just need to figure out that temp controller. It has way more settings than I was expecting. Good thing I got going on it.