Keeping quail near chickens

[swamphiker]

I've had a small chicken flock for about 5 years now and am considering adding coturnix quail, mainly for meat. I have already worked out the housing, but given the size of my yard it isn't practical to keep them very far from my chickens. I have already read this very informative thread on chicken diseases that are transmissible to quail: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/quail-diseases.1554856/ (thanks @007Sean!)

My chickens have a large open-air run so they have potential exposure to diseases from wild birds. Although the quail would be kept within hardware cloth and under a roof at all times, it's still outdoors not completely free of exposure from wild bird dropping either. I realize that if I were to add quail, they would be at an increased risk for disease, but I'd be interested to hear what others' experiences have been.

For folks who have kept multiple species in close proximity, have you had a lot of disease issues in your quail?

 

[igorsMistress]

Hi there. I did not have issues when I kept quail and chickens. The quail had their own space, but in the middle of the chicken yard. I kept them for meat and eggs, but it was for maybe a year. It was a lot of work for the little meat you get in the long run. Others may have different experiences.

 

[swamphiker]

Hi there. I did not have issues when I kept quail and chickens. The quail had their own space, but in the middle of the chicken yard. I kept them for meat and eggs, but it was for maybe a year. It was a lot of work for the little meat you get in the long run. Others may have different experiences.

Thanks! I'm dipping my toes into quail slowly because I don't want to invest a lot of time/effort/space in something that I might not end up sticking with. I'm hoping quail can be easy with only small modifications to my existing setup. What part of it did you find to be tiresome or was it just the small amount of meat?

 

[igorsMistress]

Thanks! I'm dipping my toes into quail slowly because I don't want to invest a lot of time/effort/space in something that I might not end up sticking with. I'm hoping quail can be easy with only small modifications to my existing setup. What part of it did you find to be tiresome or was it just the small amount of meat?

I kept my quail in a shaded, enclosed garden so it was more of an aviary. A large one so I had a lot of birds in there. Quail don’t lay their eggs in nest boxes, they’ll drop them wherever so I was forever hunting eggs. The smell was bothersome and I was allergic to them. Even though I cleaned the bedding regularly the smell still bothered me, probably a me thing.

If I were to do it again I’d keep them fully covered to keep things dry and use deep litter in the meat bird area so I only had to clean after processing. I would also divide the birds, keeping breeding groups separated and the meat birds in their own space.

 

[swamphiker]

I kept my quail in a shaded, enclosed garden so it was more of an aviary. A large one so I had a lot of birds in there. Quail don’t lay their eggs in nest boxes, they’ll drop them wherever so I was forever hunting eggs. The smell was bothersome and I was allergic to them. Even though I cleaned the bedding regularly the smell still bothered me, probably a me thing.

If I were to do it again I’d keep them fully covered to keep things dry and use deep litter in the meat bird area so I only had to clean after processing. I would also divide the birds, keeping breeding groups separated and the meat birds in their own space.

Thanks, that is all useful to keep in mind! I didn't realize one could be allergic to quails, that must have been particularly bothersome.

I'm hoping I can ease some of those issues with this set-up, but I'm very much open to advice! I posted a thread about my plans for quail housing that I hope will only need minor modification to work well: https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...uestions-about-making-a-small-aviary.1628779/

 

[igorsMistress]

Thanks, that is all useful to keep in mind! I didn't realize one could be allergic to quails, that must have been particularly bothersome.

I'm hoping I can ease some of those issues with this set-up, but I'm very much open to advice! I posted a thread about my plans for quail housing that I hope will only need minor modification to work well: https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...uestions-about-making-a-small-aviary.1628779/

That’s an excellent setup! The grow out pen might have too much height, cut it down to a foot or so with a false ceiling so the older birds don’t hurt themselves before you can process. The aviary I agree could house probably ten birds. The only issue would be that if you have two males in that space they’ll probably fight. Limit it to one male and seven females and I think you’d be in great shape. Consider potted plants instead of in ground. This way you won’t get wet eggs because the quail would definitely lay eggs under the foliage. Anything safe for your chickens is also safe for quail.

 

[swamphiker]

That’s an excellent setup! The grow out pen might have too much height, cut it down to a foot or so with a false ceiling so the older birds don’t hurt themselves before you can process. The aviary I agree could house probably ten birds. The only issue would be that if you have two males in that space they’ll probably fight. Limit it to one male and seven females and I think you’d be in great shape. Consider potted plants instead of in ground. This way you won’t get wet eggs because the quail would definitely lay eggs under the foliage. Anything safe for your chickens is also safe for quail.

Thank you so much for the feedback! Yes, I'll definitely need to add a false ceiling to the grow-out pen. You (and others) have also convinced me to keep only a single rooster to avoid conflict.