New to poultry and the forum!

[eksulli]

My husband and I are going to be building a coop in the next month and stocking it with a few chickens (4 to 6) and I would also like to do quail. Jumbo brown coturnix quail, now I've read (here) that they cannot be house together, but would putting the coops side by side, with the fenced in runs be a problem as far as disease? I only want to keep about 10 quail at a time and as I said 4-6 chickens (the chicken will have to hens only and probably will be Barred Rock since my nephew raises them and I can get them from him at a steal and ensure what I am getting are hens ) ANYWAY, lol, how far away from each other do they need to be for disease to NOT be an issue? Obviously I don't want sick animals, but I also have limited room. Thanks!

Emily

 

[redsoxs]

Greetings from Kansas, Emily, and

! Great to have you in our community! I don't know the answer to the housing question. You might post it over in the quail section below. Also, if you need some coop building tips you can check out the coops section below as well. Good luck to you and have fun with your coop building and future poultry!!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/48/quail

https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/2/Coop_Designs

 

[eksulli]

I guess to introduce a bit about us, might be polite, lol! We live in a very rural part of Pennsylvania, where the second graders STILL hatch out chicks and bring them home (with parent's permission) every year. We have four small children, all girls, that range in age from 8 years to 5 months. We also have four "dogs", all under 30lbs. The roster goes: Bean & Pig (French Bulldogs), Monkey ( 8lb Pomapoo) and Bently and Tink (Schnauzers). We also have a bunny (whom is going to get an overhauled hutch this year! YAY) named Noble, and fish! Adding chickens seems like a natural thing to do, I grew up with ducks and my husband grew up with chickens and cow and whatever else you might see hanging around the farm. I'm not scared to get my hands dirty or dig into a project and my husband is very supportive!
If the answer to the above question is simply... you can't have both in the same yard, I will accept it! Thanks for reading a bit about us, hope you all have a wonderful Sunday and that it's much less windy and freezing where you are than where we are!

 

[eksulli]

Greetings from Kansas, Emily, and

! Great to have you in our community! I don't know the answer to the housing question. You might post it over in the quail section below. Also, if you need some coop building tips you can check out the coops section below as well. Good luck to you and have fun with your coop building and future poultry!!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/48/quail

https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/2/Coop_Designs

Thanks so much! I will definitely check those out. What I have pictures in my head (it never comes out quite that way, but hey) is something similiar to this: http://www.efowl.com/7_Ft_Wood_Chicken_Coop_p/305-1005.htm , the coop coop will probably be a bit different but the run will be almost exact, my husband loved it and I think we can create something similar enough to please us both and keep the chickens happy

 

[1muttsfan]

Hi and welcome to BYC from northern Michigan

There are others here who have both, so someone in the quail section should be able to help you.

 

[eksulli]

Will head over there and ask! Thanks! I'm sure I'll be frequenting this site in search of much chicken related wisdom! Thanks!

 

[sumi]

Hello and welcome to BYC

Glad you joined us!

 

[Carcajou]

Hi and

from the Catskill Mountains of New York. Best of luck to you!

 

[eksulli]

One thing I'm seeing is that they do not require the room I thought they did.
I plan on making the chicken run somewhere around 10ft (wide) X16ft(long). This is a rough guess, it may be a bit narrower and a touch longer. The nesting box will be inside this enclosure and the chickens will be allowed out to do their chicken business. lol!
So what is a general rule of thumb for number of chicken to pen size, and for a pen about this size how many chickens would you keep? Looking for individual opinions. It seems to depend on what you keep and how they are kept. Also should I decide I want more than 6, this pen would certainly hold it (if I've read correctly) what would be some good options to keep alongside the barred rock? What size nest box would you build and how would you build it? Again, I am going to go read MORE posts on the building coops, nesters, etc, section, just looking for some opinions!

Thanks,

Emily

 

[Kevin565]