That Quail Place Forum
Raising Gamebirds => Brooding and Raising => Topic started by: bingo on June 26, 2004, 11:29:37 PM
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I am about to embark on an adventure of raising some quail, and have a question or two that I know some one has encountered at one time or another. I have heard both ways. some set me straight. when i get my quail in the mail and start raising them, will raising them with chickens cause any problems. Some tells me never raise quail and chickens together, and some tells me they can be.I would like to know the reason if I can't.
This is a great site and an abundance of information, I try to read all posts
thanks Jerry
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I breed both chickens and quails but are raise in seperate pens,my chickens are free range so they don't have any netting or wire over their heads and their pens are open where the quail pens are fully enclose, otherwise they would fly off or be an easy meal ticket, if you were to raise them together in a brooder the chickens are double the quails size and there would be the possible of the quail been step on, also the quail have a higher protein diet than a chicken
Joip
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I have the same set up as Joip with the addition of turkeys (which are also often listed as species that shouldn't be raised with chickens). My chicken and turkeys are free range and quail and pheasant are penned. Only problem I've encountered was one outbreak of coccidiosis last summer that cost me a bunch of quail chicks. I can't place blame on the chickens since we live in the country and have about an equal number of songbirds that visit the pens so the outbreak could have just as easily come from them. Once discovered, it was fairly easily treated and had no other problems.
David
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Wouldn't recomend brooding them together. I have had problems brooding chickens and banty chickens in the same pen, the little guys just get trampled. As for adults it really depends on the chicken. I have several bantam breeds I put in with my quail to turn the soil over. I have the rare ocassion that a chicken has to be removed because he's to aggressive, but that's rare. A friend put a 14lb broiler rooster in with his bobwhites, no problems. But all breeds are different, you don't want to create any unwanted stress on the birds, as they will be more prone to diseases.
I used to keep a little rooster in with my pigeons, he tried to breed with them every time they landed on the ground. This solved the problem of them trying to lay eggs on the ground instead of up in thier nests. He was kicked out of the quail pen for this reason. So to answer your question I would say probably not a good idea unless you have a lot of time to monitor them. There are so many factors that can change with the season or temperature with the behavior of both breeds. A pecking order is natural, but when you have a bird 10 times the other, harmless picking can turn to a major problem of canibalism.
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I also have quail and chickens, and it is the same setup as most replies here. I let my chickens run during the day, whereas my quail are penned 24/7. They are always kept separate for several reasons. The most important would be the disease factor, where chickens could bring a virus, etc. into your quail population. Secondly important would be the fact that the chickens are pretty carefree when it comes to being around other animals and humans, where the quail are very high strung, flighty, and not too inviting to outsiders. Having this combination together would put a great deal of stress on your quail, which would in turn hinder egg production, feeding, etc. I can tell you that my quail have finally gotten used to the chickens coming around their pen to clean up the loose waste feed underneath(one benefit). So, I would say raise them separately, and avoid housing both together as best as you can. Replacing a few chickens wouldn't be near as costly as your quail.
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Thanks for all the good information, I will tell my wife she is in luck, we dont
have to get rid of her chickens. I will build a seperate pen and brooder for the Quail and the wifey will be as happy as a lark. thanks very much.
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Well then it looks like you can keep the lark too! :P