Button quail and silkies housed together?

[Shared Acres]

I have a large coop with 1" holes in the fencing.

I have never had Button Quail before, about to hopefully hatch some.

Will brood in the house and when they are full grown--can they go outside in the coop?

AND, if so, if I let the Silkies get adjusted to them, should they all live ok?

 

[MoodyChicken]

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.

 

[Akane]

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.

 

[Shared Acres]

Akane-Thanks. That's what I'm afraid of.

We don't have a problem with squirrels at all suprisingly, and the run is covered.

I do worry about the other Silkies to them.