This isn't one of those "can I keep quail & chickens together" threads.
This is one of those "my quail & chickens won't stay away from each other" threads.
We are based in Northwest UK.
I've got a small - medium backgarden in the middle of a town. I know my chickens can pass on disease to my quail. The chickens are loose, the quail are in a pen on the grass. I have limited space, so I make the best of it. We have rabbits to.
The quail are Jumbo coturnix & very friendly. The chickens are EE's & one pekin, again, friendly birds. Everything was home hatched & raised.
Anyway, whatever side of the pen my chickens are on, the quail have their faces pressed up against the wire. They will walk up & down the side where the chickens are & race around the pen when the chickens decide to race around the garden. The chickens used to view the quail as a meal, but now view them as fellow flock mates. All these birds are quite young.
The chickens also keep roosting during the day on top of the quail pen. We have decided to get a clear tarp on the roof to prevent chicken mess dropping into the quail pen.
My questions are "How close is too close with chickens & quail?"
"living in the middle of town, are my birds less likely to catch & carry game bird diseases? There are no local farms."
"Do wild town birds carry gamebird diseases & if so which species is the most likely culprit out of the list below of my local bird species?"
Robin
Blackbird
Wood Pigeon
Sparrows (occasional)
Starlings (occasional)
Non of those birds even get close to the garden since the chickens chase out & terrorize the local birds if they try to stop by. Now nothing ever lands in the garden, not even on the fence or the sheds. The wild birds even avoid flying over the garden & tend to pass over the backs of the sheds at the bottom of the garden very fast.
I don't want my chickens to become carriers, so I'm trying to prevent the diseases even being picked up our animals in the first place. Apart from disease, I'd say the chickens & quail are fine. They absolutely cannot get at each other to cause injuries etc.
This is one of those "my quail & chickens won't stay away from each other" threads.
We are based in Northwest UK.
I've got a small - medium backgarden in the middle of a town. I know my chickens can pass on disease to my quail. The chickens are loose, the quail are in a pen on the grass. I have limited space, so I make the best of it. We have rabbits to.
The quail are Jumbo coturnix & very friendly. The chickens are EE's & one pekin, again, friendly birds. Everything was home hatched & raised.
Anyway, whatever side of the pen my chickens are on, the quail have their faces pressed up against the wire. They will walk up & down the side where the chickens are & race around the pen when the chickens decide to race around the garden. The chickens used to view the quail as a meal, but now view them as fellow flock mates. All these birds are quite young.
The chickens also keep roosting during the day on top of the quail pen. We have decided to get a clear tarp on the roof to prevent chicken mess dropping into the quail pen.
My questions are "How close is too close with chickens & quail?"
"living in the middle of town, are my birds less likely to catch & carry game bird diseases? There are no local farms."
"Do wild town birds carry gamebird diseases & if so which species is the most likely culprit out of the list below of my local bird species?"
Robin
Blackbird
Wood Pigeon
Sparrows (occasional)
Starlings (occasional)
Non of those birds even get close to the garden since the chickens chase out & terrorize the local birds if they try to stop by. Now nothing ever lands in the garden, not even on the fence or the sheds. The wild birds even avoid flying over the garden & tend to pass over the backs of the sheds at the bottom of the garden very fast.
I don't want my chickens to become carriers, so I'm trying to prevent the diseases even being picked up our animals in the first place. Apart from disease, I'd say the chickens & quail are fine. They absolutely cannot get at each other to cause injuries etc.
