Keeping Quail with chickens.

[BinaryChicken]

I have an aviary with 15 chickens and i was wondering a. how winter hardy are quail? and b. Can you keep them with chickens?

 

[robopetz]

I read they are hardy to the cold. I'm just not sure how much cold. I have 2 silkies that my button was raised with and they all get along just fine. People will tell you other wise though.

 

[TwoCrows]

Many folks do keep quail and chickens together, however keep in mind that chickens can carry diseases that kill quail. And aggressive chickens, especially roosters, can kill quail.

 

[BinaryChicken]

Thanks. My 3 Roostersthat are in the aviary (2 sebright, and one silkie) are quite docile.

 

[James the Bald]

I'm going to start a jar... everytime this particular question gets asked, I'm putting in a nickel. And if TwoCrows responds, I'm adding a dime.

 

[robopetz]

Lol, thank you! And I'm always replying with "I do it and they're fine!" Lol

 

[TwoCrows]

I'm going to start a jar... everytime this particular question gets asked, I'm putting in a nickel. And if TwoCrows responds, I'm adding a dime.

Can you tell I am laughing?

 

[drowe005]

DONT DO IT. While it may work sometimes, it is a fact that having quail around chickens can prove deadly via disease.

If you play Russian roulette, there's only a 1 in 6 chance that you get the bullet, so chances are you won't get the bullet the first time you pull the trigger. But if You pull the trigger enough times, the odds won't be with you for much longer.

If you know the repercussions of what could happen, don't risk it. It's not only unfair to the animals that you could have prevented from getting sick/dieing, but it will save you lots of time and money in replacing your whole flock in the future. Just do a quick search on here for mixing quails with chicken or mixing chukars/pheasants/turkeys or whatever with chickens, and you'll finds loads of valuable information, it gets asked quite frequently.

Definitely plan on doing a separate enclosure, and good luck to you with your venture on quail. They're definately addicting!


EDIT:
I forgot about the cold hardy part. Most all species of quail are cold hardy birds. Whats species in specific were you talking about and that will help in giving a more accurate answer. But for what most people get, both bobwhite and coturnix quail are very cold hardy birds.

 

[Pancholoco]

Don't keep it together. I was raising quails and chickens together from babies and when chickens grew, they began to peck quails until killed, and then eat them.

 

[Jubaby]

If I have a coop, where chickens have been raised recently - and I wanted to put quail in it, what do I need to do to disinfect it?