Large chicken hen hatching quail!

[Kneedles]

This sort of thing can work, but you run the risk of her stepping on and hurting the tiny babies. There's also the risk of disease transfer if your chickens are carrying anything.

I thought I read that quails and chickens should never be kept together because of how high the risk is of chickens transferring fatal diseases to quails? Isn't there an old thread here about a quail chick which contracted a disease that caused its eyes to dissolve because it was being kept with chickens...?

 

[SemiQ]

I thought I read that quails and chickens should never be kept together because of how high the risk is of chickens transferring fatal diseases to quails? Isn't there an old thread here about a quail chick which contracted a disease that caused its eyes to dissolve because it was being kept with chickens...?

If the eggs hatch, I was thinking that if the risk is too high I might have to remove them and put them in the brooder. I actually saw that thread quite a while ago and so I made a back up plan just in case.

 

[Fishkeeper]

Chickens have been domesticated and carried all over the world for long enough that they have immunities to, and often carry, diseases that many game birds have never encountered. There are a lot of things that don't affect chickens more than a cold affects us, if that, because of their immunity, but can cause serious harm to birds with no immunity.
However, if you get coturnix quail that are hardy against those diseases, or if your chickens aren't carrying those diseases, it's fine.
It's kind of a shot in the dark as to how it'll work out, keeping them near each other. They shouldn't be kept together because of behavioral and size differences, though.

 

[SemiQ]

Chickens have been domesticated and carried all over the world for long enough that they have immunities to, and often carry, diseases that many game birds have never encountered. There are a lot of things that don't affect chickens more than a cold affects us, if that, because of their immunity, but can cause serious harm to birds with no immunity.
However, if you get coturnix quail that are hardy against those diseases, or if your chickens aren't carrying those diseases, it's fine.
It's kind of a shot in the dark as to how it'll work out, keeping them near each other. They shouldn't be kept together because of behavioral and size differences, though.

If the quail hatch they should be hardy (at least the parents were hardy). As for the chickens I have no idea if there carrying anything. I completely agree with you and like I said before I might have to move them to the brooder after hatch for their own safety.

 

[MissChick@dee]

That would be so cool if they hatch. Chickens can be very gentle when they want to. Saying little baby quail prayers.

 

[SemiQ]

That would be so cool if they hatch. Chickens can be very gentle when they want to. Saying little baby quail prayers.

 

[SemiQ]

Day 7 of incubation:
One more egg was squished, we opened up and lo and behold...

Though they're a lot further along than we expected. It should take five more days until they hatch because the eyes and general body shape have developed. There's only eight eggs left, I hope the others are doing fine.

 

[SemiQ]

Update:
We unfortunately only have six left because some rats got the other two, so we put some rat poison behind the nest boxes and that seemed to keep them away for now.

The eggs are due to hatch around today until Saturday.

 

[MissChick@dee]

Yikes!!! Your chickens could eat that poison!!!!
I would get that up ASAP!! Along with any bedding and soil. It will kill them Too!!

 

[SemiQ]

Yikes!!! Your chickens could eat that poison!!!!
I would get that up ASAP!! Along with any bedding and soil. It will kill them Too!!

Oh no, don't worry I should've explained better. The poison is a block and its actually behind everything, no chickens can reach it only rats and mice can. I'll take a pic.