Button quail and silkies housed together?

When I got button quail, I asked the same question. A vet told me that I should keep them separated because housing the two together can increase parasite transmission. I guess there are some worms that prefer quail. When housed with chickens, the quail worms will transmit to the chickens.

 

Parasites should not be a big deal. Especially if you keep the coop clean. What is a problem is that small adult buttons and juveniles may fit through 1" holes and even small chickens are likely to crush or peck them to death. Think about sticking a bunch of recently hatched chicks out there. Buttons aren't much bigger than a bantam chick when grown and probably smaller than a lot of standard chicks. Also if buttons escape out the door they will not return and if in an outdoor pen predators are a huge problem because even smaller things like rats and squirrels can kill buttons. It could probably be done but the risk is very high you will lose lots of buttons.