Coturnix and chicken roommates?

[amaugans]

Can you house coturnix quail with chickens? Just let them run around the coop and such ? I only see people housing them in small hutches. I tried to filter thru some posts to find their housing explained but couldn’t really find anything that answered my questions.

Thanks!

 

[ButtonquailGirl14]

X2 I wanted too also, but to my understanding they can give each other serious diseases.

 

[sylviethecochin]

Yeah. Mostly the chickens giving the quail diseases; chickens have really robust immune systems and as a result can carry diseases that would kill other birds.

I imagine there are other reasons, but that one's the first that springs to mind, besides the obvious size/diet difference.

 

[ButtonquailGirl14]

Maybe chicken would kill them

 

[007Sean]

Not a good idea, gamebirds and chickens don't mix. Chickens have diseases that they can tolerate but will kill gamebirds.
Also the chickens are way bigger and potentially aggressive towards quail.

 

[ButtonquailGirl14]

Not a good idea, gamebirds and chickens don't mix. Chickens have diseases that they can tolerate but will kill gamebirds.
Also the chickens are way bigger and potentially aggressive towards quail.

so I guess I was correct. Thanks Sean!

 

[igorsMistress]

I don't house mine together, my chicken roo chases off small birds from feed/scratch. The girls have killed quite a few pigeons too.

However, the quail are in an enclosed garden and the chickens run around outside the garden all day every day. So far I've had no issues.

There are so many wild birds that come around I figured what difference would it really make? They're all exposed to whatever is here.

 

[amaugans]

Not a good idea, gamebirds and chickens don't mix. Chickens have diseases that they can tolerate but will kill gamebirds.
Also the chickens are way bigger and potentially aggressive towards quail.

What do you mean by diseases? Like bacteria? Just curious. Thanks for your insight!

 

[CoturnixComplex]

I don't house mine together, my chicken roo chases off small birds from feed/scratch. The girls have killed quite a few pigeons too.

However, the quail are in an enclosed garden and the chickens run around outside the garden all day every day. So far I've had no issues.

There are so many wild birds that come around I figured what difference would it really make? They're all exposed to whatever is here.

I would generally agree insofar as keeping them on the same property but not housed together, but keeping them *in the same pen* causes the potential disease vectors between the two to go up significantly, and way more than is worth the risk in my opinion. A sensitive gamebird that could fight off occasional indirect exposure to a pathogen from a nearby chicken could definitely succumb if *constantly* fighting off bacteria or viral load from droppings near food/water, direct interaction, etc.

Just tacking that on since the original question was about keeping them in much closer quarters I agree that aggression or even accidental squashing and food competition are going to be issues too.

 

[007Sean]

What do you mean by diseases? Like bacteria? Just curious. Thanks for your insight!

Blackhead, rotaviral infections, fowl cholera, marek's disease, pullorum and fowl typhoid, aspergillosis, infectious bronchitis, coryza and swollen head syndrome to name but a few.