Just a quick quail update. The babies are doing good.
Everybody is active - eating, drinking, pooping, and sleeping. No signs of distress or lethargy.
I was worried on the first day, because one of them was peeping quite a lot, but they have settled down and now appear comfortable.
This is their current set-up. Very shallow water containers to prevent drowning, food scattered everywhere so they can't possibly miss it and a light serving as a heat source on one side of the enclosure.
I used a thermometer to guage the correct temperature is being reached under the light, and then watch how the babies act to determine if they are actually too hot or too cold. They sleep under the light but move freely around the brooder without any issues when looking for food or water. They are not clustering under the light (too cold) or avoiding the light (too hot). And they are not peeping a lot or too loudly, just soft little happy peeps.
Quail chicks are notoriously fragile, so I am a little nervous. But I have raised baby chickens many times and also chukar partridges, so I do have some experience.
The first few days tend to be the hardest, since the babies are learning so much and figuring out how to eat/drink/walk.