if you have chickens can you raise quail?

[chickbird]

i have about 60 chickens and would like to raise quail and if i do this how do i need to set up the quail pens? what disease do chickens have that quail can get? where would quail pens need to be in relation to the chicken pens? thanks

 

[Chinchilla2]

Had to chime in with my two cents here. If you have quail / chickens, you can raise chicken / quail. Having one does not exclude raising the other. Crank over the ol' incubator or put in an order to your favorite hatchery and get some of both.

Now, that being said, I do know a few things either by way of reading several thousand of the posts here, reading several thousand websites, or through trial and error.

1. To a chicken, quail look and taste like grasshoppers. Unless you have developed that magical elusive quail called the 10 pound bob, chickens will hunt down your quail and beat 'em up.

2. Unless you plan on flight-training your quail, keep them in squatty pens 2.5 to 3 ft off the ground or clip their wings. Quail, from buttons to Butler Bobs like to "popcorn" when startled. As a result head injury and death can occur, especially when big food monster appears suddenly overhead. Also, 2.5 to 3ft off the ground helps when you have a lot of quail to feed and water and a sore back.

3. Domestic quail are a bit hardier than wild varieties when it comes to illness but they are still more susceptible to some diseases than chickens. According to a friend of mine in the Texas A&M poultry science department (the same section that developed the white A&M cotunix), all breeds of quail are susceptible to chicken diseases. However, those quail that have been developed as hybrids or have been in the captive state for some time (minimum of four generations) are not as quick to catch chicken diseases as their wild cousins.

4. Quail and chicken chicks can be brooded together for up to the first 3 weeks. Same fella also says that one should feed BOTH quail and chicken chicks medicated food during this time and actually endorses this method of brooding for those who raise both types of birds because it exposes the quail to those diseases present in the chicken population allowing the quail to start developing antibodies at an early age before any form of medication resistance can be formed. When asked why medicated, he shrugged and said that it couldn't hurt. However, the SECOND you see the chickens looking at the quail with a "Hmmm, is that a grasshopper?" expression, separate.

5. Quail and chicken can be housed within a 10ft range of each other IF some precautions are used. The quail pen needs to be placed so that any prevailing wind hits it first then the chickens. This way airborne diseases are less likely to carry into the quail cage. If the quail are in a raised pen, they can be side by side to the extent that the quail can literally look down at foraging chickens. However, if the chickens are placed in an enclosed coop overnight, then care must be taken to insure there is adequate flow of air away from the quail's nighttime sleeping area.

I translate all this into raise chicken and quail but use some common sense. If your quail begin to get sick, perhaps relocating their pen away from the chickens may be in order. Not only for the sake of the quail but the quail may have picked up something they can give to the chickens.

 

[thekid]

quail pens should probably be 100ft away IF YOU CAN depends on how much space you have if you have hardly any 10ft away then the farther away the better. And chickens can give quail and other gamebirds lotofdiseases

 

[7L Farm]

The two breeds need separate pens. In other words chickens living with chickens in their separate coop & quail living with quail in their separate coop.They can be side by side. The trick is keeping chicken poop out of the quail pen & visa verse. I usually blow my shoes off with an air compressor before going in the coops some people have different shoes they wear into different coops. Another thing to consider is washing your hands before you clean & fill their waterers. I'm not a fanatic about this but I'm cautious & try & to be consistent. Best thing to do is try & keep all birds healthy. Give them clean water at all times is very important & plenty of feed. Here's a picture of two pens side by side. One pen has chickens the other has Bob Whites. I'm no avian specialist but so far all has gone well.

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
Not true, most diseases transferred from chickens to quail are respiratory, aka AIRBORNE, diseases. Best rule of thumb, keep your quail as far away from your chickens as you can, and always tend the quail first. Most any disease that chickens can get can be passed on to gamebirds, the problem is the most of these diseases don't kill the chickens but are detrimental to gamebirds. The most common diseases are coryza and mycoplasma, but there are several others.

 

[7L Farm]

What are the chances of this happening? Mine have been living like this for quite awhile. Shelley are you an avian specialist. There's one where I live & I have spoken to him about my set up & he said it should be fine. Like I said I'm no specialist but there's no guarantees in any body's life. Heck your chickens can get sick from the wild birds in your yard. I'm not saying your wrong but again for you to say they can't be side by side is not so because I'm doing it. Will they get sick I sure hope not. But again heck I could get sick tonight & die you never know. Go to the zoo they have every known species living side by side. Could they get sick from the others well certainly. People live side by side & get sick all the time from each other.

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
You're doing it because apparently your birds are not carrying any diseases. It's an awful way to learn that your chickens carry coryza or mycoplasma by waking up to a bunch of dead quail. Better safe than sorry and keep them well away from each other. I'm not an expert but I've read enough on here to know that keeping them in close proximity with chickens is only asking for trouble.

 

[JJMR794]

Quote:
You're doing it because apparently your birds are not carrying any diseases. It's an awful way to learn that your chickens carry coryza or mycoplasma by waking up to a bunch of dead quail. Better safe than sorry and keep them well away from each other. I'm not an expert but I've read enough on here to know that keeping them in close proximity with chickens is only asking for trouble.

ABSOLUTELY CORRECT

 

[gmendoza]

Now I have chickens and quail, but my quail have elevated pens and are about 10 feet away and outside of the chicken run. I go in to feed the chickens in the morning, and DW feeds the quail, so there is no transfer of disease, if any to any fouls.

Now I did have a post on here that I did have some quail directly in the same coop and run with the chickens. They did well. Would I recommend it? No. those quail did get pecked on, not bad, but still they were missing some feathers. Was it the wisest choice? Not really, but it was sort of an experiment in bird management and health. Did any of my quail die? No. and they are still alive, laying eggs and very healthy. Mostly it was for coolness, and for repair of their pens. We don’t have a garage, nor extra empty sheds.

I would side on caution, and experience from some of the more experienced aviary keepers on here about keeping chickens with quail. Learn from them. Mine was a fluke, a one in a million, but I had to try.

Would I do it again?…NO.

Too many things can and will go wrong.

 

[wolftracks]

I have both. They are away from eachother, but I've had a hen or two free range and decided to roost on the pens. I'll be enclosing them soon. With the weather on it's way to getting cold I need to have an area that keeps the elements out, plus lighting. I'm building a frame and using lattice to enclose, then growing climbing plants around it. The enclosure itself will hold the lighting.

I feed and water the quail first. Do any cleaning and then move on to the chickkens and rabbits. Quail are always first, but I'll also be housing the rabbits in the same enclosure once I manage to get supplies and get it up.