Brooding Chicken & Quail Chicks Together

[Byrdj]

I know you can hatch quail and chicken eggs together in the same incubator no problem, but can you keep the together in the same brooder after they hatch? I'm afraid the larger chicken chicks might kill the quail chicks even though they will about the same age.

 

[Paganbird]

I kept mine together for a couple weeks... until the quail started trying to fly out of the brooder. Then I put the quail in a guinea-pig house with a screened top and put the chicks in a rabbit-hutch-brooder.
I had 15 cortunix, 9 buttons, 2 standard polish, 2 salmon faverolles, a d'uccle, an EE and 2 HUGE RIR chick all in the same brooder with no problems.
I took some pics of the big fluffy RIR chicks next to the little fluffy button chicks... it was pretty amazing to compare their sizes.

 

[babyriver]

I hatched 2 reds with 10 chicks .Raised together ,now they free range with the chickens & roost with them a night. That was just what I did .I'm sure your not suppose to.

 

[JJMR794]

NO YOU SHOULD NOT! HERE'S WHY---http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=250361

 

[Flippacase]

this is kind of unrelated, but i've heard that quail chicken hybrid happen quite often.

so just watch out, when they get older.

 

[JJMR794]

Quote:
HUH?

 

[Paganbird]

Quote:
From what I've read, it's chicken-quail hybrids (chicken rooster-quail hen only) and it doesn't happen "quite often" but it can happen. The offspring are sterile and they're usually bred for genetics experiments.

 

[canter6]

Quote:
HUH?

Same here. I'm scratching my head.
I can think of several reasons for not brooding quail with chickens, but cross breading never enters the picture.

 

[PetersonD]

I think keep 'em separated. Take a look at whats at the link he provided. Variety of reasons including problems arising from the size difference, possible disease transmission (quail may not have immunity to what is being carried by chickens), etc. On the hybridization thing, well, that seems to be the least of your concerns right now...

 

[JJMR794]

For The Record.... In The Rare Event That Crossing Does Take Place The Hybrids Have A 1.74% Hatch Rate With A 33.92% Hatch Mortality By Day 6 After Hatch, And Any Lucky Survivors Will Be 99.963% Sterile.--- The Results Are From Mad Japanese Scientists Attempting To Create Larger Quail Under Ideal Lab Conditions( Including But Not Limited To Artificial Insemination Of The Coturnix Hens Every 12 Hrs Continuously With Pure Source Semen From 3 Different Breeds Of Chicken Rooster) With A Myraid Of High Priced Degrees--- Results From Joe-bob's Backyard Farm And Coolerbator, Eh Not So Good....

Think I'll Just Stick To Being Concerned About Disease Transmission- Lol