Can you keep other birds (songbird/doves/etc) in your chicken run?

[vyshtia]

The run we are building will be 8 feet tall and 14 feet long - it's going to look very much like a large aviary with a chicken coop in it and I got to wondering if anyone with this style coop keep other birds in their chicken run other than chicken? It seems to make sense that the chicken will stay in middle/lower portion of this 8ft tall cage and the songbirds/doves would stay in the upper/middle part of the cage. Am I crazy?

 

[BorderKelpie]

I do it, but I have been warned about cross species disease transmission. Also, my doves/pigeons do not stay at the top, they are ground feeders. Some of the chickens will pick on them. They can get away though. The only real problem I have had is when they start fighing over nest boxes. I also have a pigeon that tries to set chicken eggs and just this morning I had to chase a broody hen off pigeon eggs.
Poor things are so confused.

(BTW, the pigeon eggs are thinner shelled and shinier than the hens' eggs, just in case you have bantams and things start getting confusing during egg collection time.)

 

[vyshtia]

ahhh...I see.

So the big issue is the cross-species disease transmission...

Thank you for the tips!

 

[elmo]

I'd say the bigger issue is whether everyone can get along in what amounts to a community aviary.

I know our male dove is pretty territorial, so we can't let any of our little parrots out in the bird room unless he's safely sitting on his mate's eggs. But if he was in an aviary with chickens, he wouldn't stand a chance trying to wingbox a chicken.

 

[vyshtia]

what about smaller birds like finches/canaries? Some kind of bird that would like to live up there without fighting/messing with the chickens? It just seems like there is so much unused space. LOL