Quail and chickens: cross-contamination/infection?

[quailchicken]

Im raising bobwhites for the first time and they seem to be doing fine so far. Im also raising chickens though, as well as newborn chicken chicks. The baby chickens and the adult chickens are not mixed with the quail or kept near each other and no equipment has been used with both. However, im still worried about some kind of cross contamination happening and wiping out all my quail or all my chickens or both. How much do I have to worry about this? I feel like I may just be overly paranoid after reading all the warnings online about how easily susceptible to disease quail can be.

My big concern is that by feeding/taking care of the chicks and then going out to take care of the quail I'm transferring some type of invisible fatal bacteria or infection on my hands or on my clothes or in my hair or something. im especially worried abut this because 3 of my new chicks died with no explanation the day they arrived and although im pretty sure it was just because of the stress/heat from shipping, im still afraid it could possibly be because of some kind of disease. That was 5 days ago and the rest of the chicks have been fine since but I've still been changing clothes and taking a shower between every visit to the chicks/chickens and every visit to the quail. Needless to say, this is pretty inconvenient though.

So am I being too cautious? Not cautious enough? Does anyone else here have both bobwhites and chickens and if so, have you had any big issues?
Thanks

 

[ranit]

I've raised both without being overly cautious and had no problems. It is more likely that the quail will catch something harmful from the adult chickens than the other way around. To avoid this, I would take care of the quail first, then the chickens.

 

[JJMR794]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=250361

http://veterinaryrecord.bvapublications.com/cgi/content/abstract/153/10/293

JUST A LITTLE LIGHT READING FOR ALL YOU NAY SAYERS OUT THERE..... WITHOUT PROPER ACTION ITS NOT SO MUCH IF, BUT WHEN. SURE YOU HAVE BEEN LUCKY FOR NOW... MAY HAVE BEEN LUCKY FOR QUITE A FEW YEARS.... BUT SOONER OR LATER UNCLE MURPHY ALWAYS CATCHES UP.


NOW IT SOUNDS AS IF YOU ARE TAKING STEPS AND THINKING ABOUT WHAT YOU DO AND HOW YOU DO IT--- THATS 90% OF IT RIGHT THERE! I RECOMMEND YOU CONTINUE DOING AS YOU HAVE WITH 1 ADDITION---- FEED YOUR GAMEBIRDS FIRST AND THEN GO TO THE CHICKENS... FOR THIS REASON- GAMEBIRDS CAN CROSS CONTAMINATE OTHER POULTRY, BUT ITS MOST COMMON THE OTHER WAY AROUND. SO WORK FROM MOST SUSCEPTIBLE TO LEAST SUSCEPTIBLE AS A MEANS OF PREVENTION. IF YOU CAN WASH HANDS IN BETWEEN AND CONTINUE TO KEEP THE 2 ISSOLATED FROM EACH OTHER I DOUBT SERIOUSLY IF YOU'LL EVER HAVE ANY PROBLEMS

ALSO THINK OF IT IN THIS WAY... CHICKENS RESPOND TO MANY ANTIBIOTICS( MANY ARE READILY AVAILABLE AT YOUR FEED STORES) AND HAVE BETTER IMMUNE SYSTEMS WHEN DEALING WITH THESE AILMENTS--- QUAIL DO NOT. QUAIL NEED VERY DIFFERENT AND UN COMMON ANTIBIOTICS WHICH ARE EXPENSIVE AND DIFFICULT TO GET AHOLD OF. QUAIL NEED COMBINATION THERAPY--- SO MULTIPLY THAT LAST STATEMENT X'S 2 AT LEAST. ALSO EVEN IF YOU SAVE THE QUAIL.... ITS NOW A CARRIER AND FOR ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES USELESS BECAUSE IF YOU USE IT OR HOUSE IT IN OR NEAR OTHER QUAIL IT WILL INFECT THEM AND WE START THE WHOLE PROCESS OVER AGAIN.