Quote:
If you really want to be technical, the original A&M quail weren't coturnix at all but a bobwhite / blue scale cross that didn't have much application other than usage as a lab rat since the hybrid was sterile. Through selective breeding, the large brown coturnix was created and the white version came about due to the need to differentiate the strain from other jumbo line hybrids that were being produced by both large and hobby breeders.
Studies that can be found on the Internet, including one at the TAMU library even suggest using a broody chicken for incubation of the coturnix (Japanese) quail. See page 6, right hand column of the pdf file available here . . . . http://posc.tamu.edu/library/extpublications/jpquail.pdf. Common diseases seen in gamebirds can mimic those seen in chickens and cannot be determined to be a separate disease without performing laboratory testing. This comes from Dr. Cook's report on common gamebird diseases available at http://teamquail.tamu.edu/files/2010/09/Common_Gamebird_Diseases.pdf. Even more mud for the water is that everyone here keeps espousing the fact that living with chickens can kill the quail but the information in this study (http://journals.tubitak.gov.tr/veterinary/issues/vet-02-26-2/vet-26-2-37-0109-14.pdf) and others very similar to it point to the reverse; meaning the quail are more likely to pass along a disease to the chickens instead.
You passed a judgement on me that was uncalled for by stating that I was unskilled in the science of virology. While I may not have a doctorate in the field, I do believe in education and not just taking common knowledge as the gospel in regards to disease and disease transmission. In simple words: I do my research. It has served me well over the years and even provided me with several accolades throughout my college education and in life in general. My use of the term "yuckie" was to incorporate all forms of chicken based diseases and to bring a little light into the subject. Presuming my use of the word was indicative of lack of knowledge or education also indicates that you have little to no ability to take information such as what I provided as what it was intended: an alternative theory as to why some people have no problems housing gamebirds and chickens together while others have had bad results.
The bathtub bean counting does not work either as a scenario. While 98% of them do not drop in the hairdryer, you are failing to take into account that some fool sneaked into the room and dropped a television into the tub. This would be the wild bird that came in through a small hole in the barn wall and dropped a wad of poop on the dividing wall between the chickens and the quail. Since the wild bird then immediately flew out and fell down dead from cocci does not mean that the chickens gave it to the quail (your "hair dryer"). It is, to use a bean counter example, crying wolf while the fox raids the hen house.
Now, that being said, would I house adult quail with adult chickens? No. It makes no sense to me to do this. I keep the bobs I currently raise separate from my chickens. First, the bobs are too flighty for my chicken run and coop. I go out and loom over my chickens and they immediately beg for their treats. I go out and look my bobs in the eye and they spook even when I have a treat in my hand if I don't whistle at them before popping around the corner. Bobs have a tendency to see chicken toes the same way kids see french fries and will peck a chicken half to death from the toes up. Chickens, especially the larger varieties, see smaller birds as potential food sources. Do I keep them in the same area? Yes. My bob house is within 5 ft of the backside of my chicken coop. Do I incubate chicken and quail eggs together? Yes, I have one incubator and quail eggs just don't last through a 21 day storage period to get chicken eggs out of the darn thing. Do I brood the things together? You betcha. The chickens and quail both receive medicated food upon hatching and stay on it for at least two weeks. After the two week period is up, the birds are then separated out into individual brooders since that is also about the time the quail discover chicken toes and chickens discover that friend that has been hiding under their belly looks a bit like a cricket. This also gives me a chance to start adjusting the feed and protein levels for each type of bird.
Do I support housing them together as juveniles or adults? Only if one knows what they are doing. If the space exists, having them separate is best if for no other reason that the fact that chickens are a hardier stock than quail. If there is not enough space, then do one's level best to keep them separate. Just to be safe, have hand sanitizer near each area as a form of bio-security. Will I panic and immediately start preventative treatment in case a chicken wanders into the quail pen? No. Will I panic and isolate the quail that landed in the chicken pen for 6 weeks or longer looking for signs of disease before returning it to the rest of the covey? No. Will I serve both for dinner if the mood hits me? Yes.
It's called common sense. That very first pdf file states clearly that "Japanese quail . . . are fairly disease resistant but are affected by some common poultry diseases" (my so-called yuckies). Hmmm, that sentence right there could also start with Buff Orpingtons, Rhode Island Reds, or even Rio Grande Turkeys.
If you really want to be technical, the original A&M quail weren't coturnix at all but a bobwhite / blue scale cross that didn't have much application other than usage as a lab rat since the hybrid was sterile. Through selective breeding, the large brown coturnix was created and the white version came about due to the need to differentiate the strain from other jumbo line hybrids that were being produced by both large and hobby breeders.
Studies that can be found on the Internet, including one at the TAMU library even suggest using a broody chicken for incubation of the coturnix (Japanese) quail. See page 6, right hand column of the pdf file available here . . . . http://posc.tamu.edu/library/extpublications/jpquail.pdf. Common diseases seen in gamebirds can mimic those seen in chickens and cannot be determined to be a separate disease without performing laboratory testing. This comes from Dr. Cook's report on common gamebird diseases available at http://teamquail.tamu.edu/files/2010/09/Common_Gamebird_Diseases.pdf. Even more mud for the water is that everyone here keeps espousing the fact that living with chickens can kill the quail but the information in this study (http://journals.tubitak.gov.tr/veterinary/issues/vet-02-26-2/vet-26-2-37-0109-14.pdf) and others very similar to it point to the reverse; meaning the quail are more likely to pass along a disease to the chickens instead.
You passed a judgement on me that was uncalled for by stating that I was unskilled in the science of virology. While I may not have a doctorate in the field, I do believe in education and not just taking common knowledge as the gospel in regards to disease and disease transmission. In simple words: I do my research. It has served me well over the years and even provided me with several accolades throughout my college education and in life in general. My use of the term "yuckie" was to incorporate all forms of chicken based diseases and to bring a little light into the subject. Presuming my use of the word was indicative of lack of knowledge or education also indicates that you have little to no ability to take information such as what I provided as what it was intended: an alternative theory as to why some people have no problems housing gamebirds and chickens together while others have had bad results.
The bathtub bean counting does not work either as a scenario. While 98% of them do not drop in the hairdryer, you are failing to take into account that some fool sneaked into the room and dropped a television into the tub. This would be the wild bird that came in through a small hole in the barn wall and dropped a wad of poop on the dividing wall between the chickens and the quail. Since the wild bird then immediately flew out and fell down dead from cocci does not mean that the chickens gave it to the quail (your "hair dryer"). It is, to use a bean counter example, crying wolf while the fox raids the hen house.
Now, that being said, would I house adult quail with adult chickens? No. It makes no sense to me to do this. I keep the bobs I currently raise separate from my chickens. First, the bobs are too flighty for my chicken run and coop. I go out and loom over my chickens and they immediately beg for their treats. I go out and look my bobs in the eye and they spook even when I have a treat in my hand if I don't whistle at them before popping around the corner. Bobs have a tendency to see chicken toes the same way kids see french fries and will peck a chicken half to death from the toes up. Chickens, especially the larger varieties, see smaller birds as potential food sources. Do I keep them in the same area? Yes. My bob house is within 5 ft of the backside of my chicken coop. Do I incubate chicken and quail eggs together? Yes, I have one incubator and quail eggs just don't last through a 21 day storage period to get chicken eggs out of the darn thing. Do I brood the things together? You betcha. The chickens and quail both receive medicated food upon hatching and stay on it for at least two weeks. After the two week period is up, the birds are then separated out into individual brooders since that is also about the time the quail discover chicken toes and chickens discover that friend that has been hiding under their belly looks a bit like a cricket. This also gives me a chance to start adjusting the feed and protein levels for each type of bird.
Do I support housing them together as juveniles or adults? Only if one knows what they are doing. If the space exists, having them separate is best if for no other reason that the fact that chickens are a hardier stock than quail. If there is not enough space, then do one's level best to keep them separate. Just to be safe, have hand sanitizer near each area as a form of bio-security. Will I panic and immediately start preventative treatment in case a chicken wanders into the quail pen? No. Will I panic and isolate the quail that landed in the chicken pen for 6 weeks or longer looking for signs of disease before returning it to the rest of the covey? No. Will I serve both for dinner if the mood hits me? Yes.
It's called common sense. That very first pdf file states clearly that "Japanese quail . . . are fairly disease resistant but are affected by some common poultry diseases" (my so-called yuckies). Hmmm, that sentence right there could also start with Buff Orpingtons, Rhode Island Reds, or even Rio Grande Turkeys.
