Button Quail and Chickens together?

[lepoulet]

Hello,

I recently adopted 2 buttons from a school hatching project gone bad. They are my first buttons. I have 9 chickens and one silkie hen lives in my dirt floor aviary with the pigeons (her choice!).

Is it possible for these buttons to cohabitate in the same aviary with the one silkie hen and the 10 pigeons? Or should I partition off a section of the aviary with lots of fun places for them? I am not sure if they would know they had to eat the gamebird crumble, and if the others would chow it down too.

They are only 8 weeks old, so I'm assuming they will almost double in size (?). I was going to keep them in a separate cage until they grew larger anyway, but would like to plan for their future. Do these guys do ok outside or are they strictly indoor quail?

Thanks so much for your help!

-L

 

[jbowen9]

what are your winters like there you may have to put a heatlamp on them oh and at 8 weeks they wont be doubling in size and you should start seeing eggs if you have any hens because they are full grown at that week

 

[Mrs MIA]

I would recommend keeping the Buttons in their own cage. Chickens are omnivores, and could possibly eat them. Besides the fact that they're so tiny, they'd probably get trampled.
Button quail are ground dwellers, and do well in the bottom of other bird cages (parrots, cockatiels, etc...). Maybe someone who has done it will add their experience, but I don't think I'd try it.

 

[gabrielle1976]

only thing I know is that at 8 weeks old they should already be about full grown , maybe they may fill out a tad but I dont think they will really grow much any more , if allt he info I have been getting is correct.

 

[lepoulet]

Many thanks for all your helpful replies. I will build them an enclosure within the aviary to keep them safe. I do worry about the chicken thinking they might be tasty and some of the pigeons can be a little aggressive too. I have a lot of ground birds (one wingers, etc.) so it is the perfect aviary for buttons, only if the chicken didn't insist on living in there. She really detests sleeping with the others for some reason and begs to get back in the aviary every night, so, ok, she has me trained!

The winters here are cold, but I heat lamp and infrared heat all my birds, so that won't be a problem. Can they tolerate low teens for days and days or should they be moved indoors entirely or kept inside the barn with heat lamps? I have a sunroom off the chicken coop that I'm thinking might be the best spot for them.

I have several options for setups for them and want to make sure they are safe and healthy, so I really appreciate your help! Thanks!

 

[lepoulet]

Another quick question. I have read a lot about the "boink" factor with these little guys and how they can seriously injure their heads from doing this when startled. Do you think they will be too frightened to be on the same level with chickens even though separated by wire? I don't want them living in constant fear of them. I could block off their view from the chickens with some solid wood and they would still have two sides open with a good view of the outdoors (there would be a window on one side). I'm thinking about making a 3'x6' enclosure for these two girls, is that large enough running space? I will plant it with fun things for them and have different textures for them to experience.

Thanks again for your feedback.

 

[citalk2much]

I think they will be okay seeing the chicken they may jump a little at first but they will get use to seeing her. Sounds like you are going to be giving them a great home!