Quail & rabbits (does) together?

[AQuailTale]

Im building an aviary for my quail, and was wondering if I could keep some or all of the does with them? If it was big enough? Or would the rabbits eat the quail? Just a thought and figured Id come here with it before putting too much energy into an experiment.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

No. They'll spread germs to each other and more than likely get into fights

 

[Misfits Farm 92]

What germs? The cage that I have for young quail in the garage is right next to my mother's rabbit hutches. I've even temporarily put quail in one of the rabbit hutches before. I don't know if I would be worried about germs but the quail and rabbits would almost most likely fight do you still shouldn't keep them together.

 

[KingD]

There is a high chance of the rabbits squashing the quails. If a rabbit landed on a quail, it would either kill it or seriously break it's legs.
I wouldn't bother.

 

[HuffleClaw]

What germs? The cage that I have for young quail in the garage is right next to my mother's rabbit hutches. I've even temporarily put quail in one of the rabbit hutches before. I don't know if I would be worried about germs but the quail and rabbits would almost most likely fight do you still shouldn't keep them together.

You realize birds carry a LOT of different types of bacteria, etc, right?

 

[NatJ]

You realize birds carry a LOT of different types of bacteria, etc, right?

The rabbits probably carry lots of bacteria too.
But whether quail-bacteria hurt rabbits, or rabbit-bacteria hurt quail, I don't know. Many kinds of bacteria are pretty specific about what things they cause trouble for.

Im building an aviary for my quail, and was wondering if I could keep some or all of the does with them? If it was big enough? Or would the rabbits eat the quail? Just a thought and figured Id come here with it before putting too much energy into an experiment.

You could put the quail in, then put a single rabbit in and watch what happens, then decide from there. I really don't know what they'll do, and it probably depends on a bunch of things like the size of the pen, the rabbit's temperament, the rabbit's size, and how the quail react.

Or you could decide to just house them separately, which would certainly keep them from hurting each other. It would also make feeding easier. Quail food is probably not healthy for rabbits, but the rabbits would be happy to eat it. I expect the quail would mostly ignore the rabbit food.

The other problem with putting more than one rabbit in the aviary: if the rabbits are used to living separately, they may fight each other (bad for the rabbits, bad for any quail that get in the way.)

 

[Cinnamon Roll]

I have rabbits in a colony and I regularly have chickens in with them. Even when the chickens were tiny babies, the rabbits steered clear of them. The chickens do not eat the rabbit pellets but the rabbits will eat the chicken food if they can. I don’t have quail but I imagine the behaviors would be similar.

 

[Nabiki]

It's really not a good idea. The rabbits are likely to injure the quail.

 

[muddy75]

It's really not a good idea. The rabbits are likely to injure the quail.

i agree that keeping rabbits with quail may not be the best idea and @Nabiki does exhibit the most reasonable logic as to why. rabbits kept in an aviary setting will dig holes. quail could fall into these holes and get “lost” and/or be inadvertently injured by the rabbits during digging or even just playing. rabbits are obligate herbivores by nature and will not eat the quail.

 

[NatJ]

rabbits are obligate herbivores by nature

Rabbits DO eat and digest meat, at least in one particular situation: after a doe rabbit gives birth, she eats the placentas, and sometimes also eats any bunnies that died at birth. (Cleaning the nest so it doesn't attract predators.) She digests them just fine. Pretty much all mammals do something similar.

Yes, rabbits need plenty of plants to stay healthy, but they can also eat and digest meat.

(I don't think the rabbits would try to eat the quail, though.)