What Exactly is Coryza?

[KatyushaB]

I am thinking about getting Quail, and I read that you CANNOT keep Quail with Chickens because of a disease called 'Coryza' and 1 out of 6 Chickens Pass it one to Quail. I also read that it has to do with swelling of the face and such things and that it is very deadly.

My question is, why does it spread from Chickens to Quail so easily? I heard it is hard to cure is that also true? And how would you cure it? And what causes Coryza and what are the symptoms to it? And why is it so deadly?

Cheers! ~KatyushaB

 

[QueenMisha]

Coryza is mainly a disease of chickens and its presence in quail is considered rare and generally unsubstantiated. The only case in which quail would have the potential to get it would be if the chickens they were kept with had it. Coryza causes serious symptoms in poultry and if a flock has it, you'll know. It's not particularly common - most contagious respiratory issues and chickens and other poultry are due to Mycoplasma. (Mycoplasma can be transmitted to quail, and is in many cases the cause of what people mistake for Coryza).

It's not hard to cure - it can't be cured. Along with many other poultry diseases such as Marek's Disease, or Mycoplasma. These can be treated, but recovered birds are likely to become asymptomatic carriers of the disease. Birds from a flock showing symptoms of any of these diseases can never be sold, nor can their chicks or hatching eggs. The disease will remain within the flock until all birds from it have died or been culled and the area has been barren of fowl for several months (or several years in the case of some diseases). This is why quarantine is so important in poultry - in many cases, once it's in your flock, it's never going to go away and that flock can never have contact with other flocks again.

The main reason not to keep quail with chickens is because they'll eat them. Sometimes, they'll just kill them, but usually, they'll eat them.

 

[Eggcessive]

In addition to the advice given by Queen Misha above, here are some links to read about coryza and another on all common diseases:
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/p...verview_of_infectious_coryza_in_chickens.html
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/82/infectious-coryza/
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[KatyushaB]

The main reason not to keep quail with chickens is because they'll eat them. Sometimes, they'll just kill them, but usually, they'll eat them.

Why do they eat the Quail?

 

[QueenMisha]

Why do they eat the Quail?

Because quail are very small and chickens are very big. I've also seen my chickens kill and eat full grown rats, snakes, and toads. Quail are sufficiently tiny that they're generally on the dinner menu for everything. They really cannot be (physically) kept with any other species.

 

[KatyushaB]

Because quail are very small and chickens are very big. I've also seen my chickens kill and eat full grown rats, snakes, and toads. Quail are sufficiently tiny that they're generally on the dinner menu for everything. They really cannot be (physically) kept with any other species.

That's really interesting! Thanks for the info. Chickens don't seem scary but sometimes they really can be!

 

[KatyushaB]

That's really interesting! Thanks for the info. Chickens don't seem scary but sometimes they really can be!

Does that mean that they would eat really really small chickens too, like say you took a 3 ft tall Malay chicken and housed it with a Modern Game chicken will they eat it also?

 

[QueenMisha]

Does that mean that they would eat really really small chickens too, like say you took a 3 ft tall Malay chicken and housed it with a Modern Game chicken will they eat it also?

They'd pick on them, doubt they'd eat them. It's largely due to the species difference. I've got a Shamo in my bantam pen and she does a good job watching over all the little guys.