Yesterday, one of the quail eggs from the last shipment hatched in the afternoon. By bedtime, there were some more. This morning there were six cots all dried off and ready to move to the brooder table.
The two cots from the last hatch are not fully feathered, but they are too big to be roommates with the new cots. So, they have to leave the brooder table. They have decent body feathers, but their heads are still down-covered. It makes their heads looks disproportionately small.
I moved one of the infrared brooder plates into the empty quail pen in the chicken coop. Because the quail pens have 1/2”x1” wire mesh floors, I filled the bottom of a pizza box with shavings and set the brooder over that. The chicken coop will be a little cooler than they might like, but they should be fine for the next week, or two, while they finish feathering.
In the work side of the coop, where the brooder table is located, I hung two heat lamps to supplement the heat from the infrared brooder plate. It seemed as though they are warming up the room enough for the new cots. When I brought them out, they ran around and explored their surroundings. Their little legs move so fast that you can’t see them against the background of wood shavings. So, it looks as if their bodies are just drifting around at the altitude of 1 inch above the bedding.
Humorous description!