can they co-habitate?

[tri-5-ron]

New to all of this, but did have an aviary when I was a kid MANY years ago.

Back then, we had a coop 4' x 8' with an attached run 8' x 36' x 7' tall.
We had chickens, chucker, ringneck, and pigeons all in the same run, and quail in a seperate cage.

I now have a 4' x 8' coop with an attached 12' x 24' x 7' tall run.
the coop is about 14" off of the ground.

right now it only has 6 chicken pullets that are 16 weeks old.

I would like to get some Jumbo/Golden Courtnix, and maybe some Georgia Giants.

my question is,
If I was to mount a board so that the chickens could not get under the coop,...
could I have the Quail running around inside the large run,
as long as they could get away from the chickens if they wanted to?

or

is it absolutely required, ( for the health/saftey of the birds), to be seperated ?

I really would like to have a couple dozen Quail running around the big pen, as opposed to just being in a smaller cage.

Thanks for any thoughts on this.

 

[Wifezilla]

There are diseases that chickens are immune to but quail have no natural defenses against. If you put them together you could end up with dead quail.

 

[GBov]

Quote:
What deseases please?

Is it like black head in chickens killing turkeys?

And is it something chickens ALWAYS have or is it, well, like black head that only exposed chickens have it but many many chickens dont and your turkeys will be "Happy as Larry" living with them?

Have been wondering this for a week or two, esp. as I was one who had chickens and turkeys together with no problems at all.

 

[crash0330]

It all depends on how healthy your birds are, there some diseases that the quail could pass on to tour chickens, for the most part I let my chickens, ducks and geese roam around the quail pen and haven't had any problems at all, there was a time where I even had them on the same run and didn't have any problems, as a kid I also used to have turkeys and chickens together all the rime and never lost one to a disease. It al depends, just know that by doing so you'll be taking a risk and maybe prepare yourself for the worst.

 

[aprophet]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=88468

pretty good read there are others

 

[JJMR794]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=250361

PERFECT EXAMPLE RIGHT HERE.

GBOV THE WORST HERE IS THE MYCOPLASMA DISEASES LIKE CORYZA. IN SOME PARTS OF THE WORLD IT'S NEWCASTLE, OR ANY 1 OF MANY OTHER ILLNESSES. FOR THE MOST PART AS GENERAL RULE CHICKENS HAVE TO BE EXPOSED TO BUILD A CARRIER STATUS OF ANY ILLNESS---- THE PROBLEM IS THAT YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT ANY BIRD HAS BEEN EXPOSED TO, WHEN, AND IF IT HAS A CARRIER STATUS FOR ANY ILLNESS---- EVEN IF YOU HATCH AND RAISE THE BIRD YOURSELF IT MAY STILL FIND THE EXPOSURE AT ANY TIME. THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE WITH MOST POULTRY AND GAMEBIRDS IS IMMUNITY AND THE NATURAL WORKINGS OF THEIR BODIES--- THEY DONT HAVE NATURAL IMMUNITIES TO THESE ILLNESS LIKE OTHER POULTRY DOES, AND DO NOT RESPOND TO EASY TO OBTAIN TREATMENTS AND USUALLY REQUIRE EXOTIC EXPENSIVE VET ONLY TREATMENTS AND EVEN IF YOU SAVE THE ANIMAL---- ITS NOW A CARRIER AND CAN PASS THE DISEASE TO THE REST OF YOUR BIRDS--- WHICH PRETTY MUCH MAKES IT USELESS AND A LOADED GUN JUST LYING AROUND WAITING TO GO OFF...

THE OLD SAYING "AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION IS WORTH A POUND OF CURE".... IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT WHEN APPLIED TO THIS SCENARIO. ITS NOT SO MUCH IF, BUT RATHER WHEN.

 

[GBov]

My breeders come from a mixed flock, chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese all running round and under and on top of hte quail cages and a couple of dog runs used for extra quail or chicks, whichever happen to be over stocked.

Would they then be resistant to the dangers of a mixed flock?

 

[KristaChickenWhisperer]

I may be wrong, but I heard that there are certain things that game birds carry that chickens are susceptible to. I am new to quail but that was one of the first things I read during my research.

 

[JJMR794]

Quote:
NO BECAUSE GAMEBIRDS DO NOT HAVE THE ABILITY TO BUILD RESISTANCE TO THESE ILLNESSES WITHOUT ACTUALLY CONTRACTING THEM--- AND IF THATS THE CASE THEY'RE NOT RESISTANT, THEY ARE CARRIERS. I BELEIVE IT HAS TO DO WITH OTHER FORMS OF POULTRY HAVING BEEN DOMESTICATED FOR THOUSANDS MORE YEARS THAN MOST GAMEBIRDS... OVER THE EXTRA MILLENIA OF BEING KEPT IN CAPTIVITY AND EXPOSED REPEATEDLY THEIR BODIES HAVE LEARNED TO BUILD IMMUNITY TO COMMON ILLNESSES.... SOMETIMES THE IMMUNITY WORKS, SOMETIMES IT DOESNT. NEVER THE LESS, GAMEBIRDS ARE STILL TECHNICALLY WILD... THEY HAVENT BEEN FULLY DOMESTICATED YET. THEY HAVE NOT BEEN KEPT IN CAPTIVITY NEARLY AS LONG AND THEREFORE HAVENT HAD TIME TO BUILD THIS IMMUNITY OR FINE TUNE THEIR IMMUNE SYSTEMS TO HANDLE THESE ILLNESSES.... EVENTUALLY THEY PROBABLY WILL, BUT NOT IN OUR LIFE TIMES MOST LIKELY....

COMPARE IT TO WHEN THE SPANISH 1ST ARRIVED IN SOUTH AMERICA.... THEY SIMPLY WALKED IN AND TOOK OVER BECAUSE THEY WERE CARRIERS OF SMALL POX--- THE DISEASE DECIMATED THE INDIGENOUS INDIAN POPULATIONS IN SHORT ORDER--- LITERALLY MILLIONS DIED WITHIN A COUPLE OF MONTHS SIMPLY FROM AN INFECTIOUS DISEASE THAT THEY HAD NEVER BEEN EXPOSED TO... THOSE SAME INHABITANTS NOW HAVE IMMUNITY TO THAT AND MANY DISEASES THAT WE WHO LIVE IN A MORE POSH SOCIETY DO NOT HAVE ANY LONGER.

 

[GBov]

Quote:
NO BECAUSE GAMEBIRDS DO NOT HAVE THE ABILITY TO BUILD RESISTANCE TO THESE ILLNESSES WITHOUT ACTUALLY CONTRACTING THEM--- AND IF THATS THE CASE THEY'RE NOT RESISTANT, THEY ARE CARRIERS. I BELEIVE IT HAS TO DO WITH OTHER FORMS OF POULTRY HAVING BEEN DOMESTICATED FOR THOUSANDS MORE YEARS THAN MOST GAMEBIRDS... OVER THE EXTRA MILLENIA OF BEING KEPT IN CAPTIVITY AND EXPOSED REPEATEDLY THEIR BODIES HAVE LEARNED TO BUILD IMMUNITY TO COMMON ILLNESSES.... SOMETIMES THE IMMUNITY WORKS, SOMETIMES IT DOESNT. NEVER THE LESS, GAMEBIRDS ARE STILL TECHNICALLY WILD... THEY HAVENT BEEN FULLY DOMESTICATED YET. THEY HAVE NOT BEEN KEPT IN CAPTIVITY NEARLY AS LONG AND THEREFORE HAVENT HAD TIME TO BUILD THIS IMMUNITY OR FINE TUNE THEIR IMMUNE SYSTEMS TO HANDLE THESE ILLNESSES.... EVENTUALLY THEY PROBABLY WILL, BUT NOT IN OUR LIFE TIMES MOST LIKELY....

COMPARE IT TO WHEN THE SPANISH 1ST ARRIVED IN SOUTH AMERICA.... THEY SIMPLY WALKED IN AND TOOK OVER BECAUSE THEY WERE CARRIERS OF SMALL POX--- THE DISEASE DECIMATED THE INDIGENOUS INDIAN POPULATIONS IN SHORT ORDER--- LITERALLY MILLIONS DIED WITHIN A COUPLE OF MONTHS SIMPLY FROM AN INFECTIOUS DISEASE THAT THEY HAD NEVER BEEN EXPOSED TO... THOSE SAME INHABITANTS NOW HAVE IMMUNITY TO THAT AND MANY DISEASES THAT WE WHO LIVE IN A MORE POSH SOCIETY DO NOT HAVE ANY LONGER.

Makes sense!

Another question stemming from that info though........

What good is quarantine?

If one can have carriers without the disease showing up no amount of keeping an eye on new animals will show a problem!