Can my quail live beside chickens, ducks, or turkeys?

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Welshies

Welshies

Crowing
May 8, 2016
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Alberta, Canada
Next spring I'm considering quail. My ducks/chickens/turkeys (getting probably chicks and poults next spring, ducks are iffy yet. I had ducks this summer) would live in a coop set up beside a horse shed, with the run attached to the horse shed (this is a 3-sided, east facing, run-in shed, not a barn). Can I raise quail there? They'd be in the horse shed, above the chicken/turkey run, elevated for safety. Or on top of the coop- that's another option. I could do beside the shed, and coop, but that's not as protected. They'd be in a rabbit hutch or a 12'x4' run that is 2' high, with a house inside of the run.
 
Quail are extremely susceptible to diseases that chickens turkeys and ducks or not. I would personally make sure to keep all Quail housing 100 feet away minimum from any other poultry housing.
 
minihorse927 said:
Quail are extremely susceptible to diseases that chickens turkeys and ducks or not. I would personally make sure to keep all Quail housing 100 feet away minimum from any other poultry housing.
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And if this is not possible, is it impossible to keep quail then? Or do I just take extra caution with them and my other birds?
We don't have a lot of ability to keep quail separate, I can consider a parrot or 2-story rabbit hutch inside of our tack shed, but that would be very crowded and probably not allowed, as well. No inside pets allowed- so not like I can keep quail inside, or in a shed-- for the most part.

I could possibly keep them in another half ( or elavated and set up on the walls in battery cages) of a horse shelter we have, but this one is in use by horses. Is that an issue?
 
I don't see the horse shelter as an issue as long as the horses are unable to access the cages of course. The main thing is you want to try to keep your chickens ducks and turkeys as far away from them as you possibly can because Unfortunately they all can carry disease that won't affect them but is deadly for quail. I have seen people that raise them in pens side by side and never have an issue but I have also seen people who keep them into buildings that are 50 feet away from each other and all the quail died because the chickens had an existing disease the owner did not know about but had never shown symptoms
 
minihorse927 said:
I don't see the horse shelter as an issue as long as the horses are unable to access the cages of course. The main thing is you want to try to keep your chickens ducks and turkeys as far away from them as you possibly can because Unfortunately they all can carry disease that won't affect them but is deadly for quail. I have seen people that raise them in pens side by side and never have an issue but I have also seen people who keep them into buildings that are 50 feet away from each other and all the quail died because the chickens had an existing disease the owner did not know about but had never shown symptoms
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What if I raised them together? Would that increase or lower the risk or their mortality? For example...gotten quail chicks, chicken chicks, and turkey poults all from the same residence (one of my classmates raises ducks, geese, chickens, doves, quail, turkeys, and guineas)? Of course quail chicks are likely too small to be brooded with the others, but would this help?
 
I would not raise them together, as you said the quail chicks will be too small to be in with the baby chicks. Quail chicks will be almost two weeks old before they are the same size as a day-old chick. Raising them together is not going to boost the quails immunity to these diseases
 
minihorse927 said:
I would not raise them together, as you said the quail chicks will be too small to be in with the baby chicks. Quail chicks will be almost two weeks old before they are the same size as a day-old chick. Raising them together is not going to boost the quails immunity to these diseases
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So my best bet may be to see if I can house them separately, and if I can't, don't get them at all?
If I am allowed, can I house them inside of our tack shed? The setup would be this:
Inside a hutch, or cage, or even dog kennel... most likely a 2 story rabbit hutch. The shed is a garden shed with saddles, bridles, and the like inside of it. It has 2 windows, one you can open, and 2 doors. I'd put them in a corner or underneath the shelves. Would this setup be detrimental to their health? I was planning to give them a pan of dirt or sand, shavings as bedding, game bird feed, and collect eggs daily.
Also do quail go broody (if I wanted to hatch chicks naturally for future meat supply)?
 
Off you can house them separately it would be fine. If you have to put them together or close by just beware the risks of losing the quail. Like I said before some get by just fine keeping them side by side but no experiences quail keeper would recommend that.

The tack room sounds find but they are dusty little things. The dander from them, just like any other bird, makes a fine dust and that stuff coats everything.

Broody quail depends upon breed and settings. If you give a proper brooding place for the type of quail (a small nest usually with some type of cover) they will and can go broody. Coturnix rarely brood. In the last couple years and 30 quail roughly kept, I've had one and she wasn't a good setter. Your wild type quail (bobwhites,gambels, etc) are more likely to brood but need to try and simulate their natural brooding environment. A lot of people use a small box with grass and then use a fake fern type plant hanging over as cover.
 
minihorse927 said:
Off you can house them separately it would be fine. If you have to put them together or close by just beware the risks of losing the quail. Like I said before some get by just fine keeping them side by side but no experiences quail keeper would recommend that.

The tack room sounds find but they are dusty little things. The dander from them, just like any other bird, makes a fine dust and that stuff coats everything.

Broody quail depends upon breed and settings. If you give a proper brooding place for the type of quail (a small nest usually with some type of cover) they will and can go broody. Coturnix rarely brood. In the last couple years and 30 quail roughly kept, I've had one and she wasn't a good setter. Your wild type quail (bobwhites,gambels, etc) are more likely to brood but need to try and simulate their natural brooding environment. A lot of people use a small box with grass and then use a fake fern type plant hanging over as cover.
Click to expand...

Okay, I'll keep this all in mind for next spring. Thanks so much for the help
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