It can be tricky to keep chickens out of quail feed and vice versa, and the only way to ensure each is eating what they need to remain healthy and productive is to keep them in separate coops. If your chickens and quail were raised in the same brooder , they might tolerate each other as they grow. However, due to their different instinctual behaviors, they may not mesh well as they age. Still, quail require a different feed as a chick than a chicken chick, so ensuring each gets what they need can prove to be nearly impossible.
Bantams are small chickens , and quail can most likely hold their own against an aggressive banty chicken, especially if you keep the small bantam breeds.
However, if you have a nasty bantam rooster, you will most likely lose quail to the aggressive roo. A free-range scenario might be one of the most plausible options for those who are confident they can pull off raising both quail and chickens in the same space, but only if there is ample room.
Feeding your birds separately will continue to be an issue, and the concern for diseases does not go away. You can, however, teach your quail to recall in the evenings—the process of releasing quail, and leaving a few hens behind in the cage to call the free-range birds back in the evening—until they know where home is. Therefore, they are leaving droppings, and possible disease and bacteria , for the quail to contract when they return at the end of the day.
Some people raise quail and chickens together, and most of them do so on a free-range basis; however, it is worth nothing that quail do not free-range as smoothly as chickens , and they have many more predators to be concerned about. In a nutshell, it may be easier, and safer, to raise these two species of birds separately; however, if you understand the problems can arise, you can come up with your own solutions to combat anything.
I had a couple broody bantams hatch some quail this year. They all free range together in the backyard. Sometimes the quail will roost with the hens and sometimes they roost outside on top of the coop. Honestly minus one bully Easter egger who currently has a coop all to her sassy self and rotates range time everyone gets along great!
I keep wild game food for the but they do have to share with the hens and other local yahoos squirrels. I love my backyard nature plot. I hope they decide to stay forever. Make no mistake — this is a rat, and he had been partying in my chicken feeder. How do I know? Youtube Facebook Twitter Instagram. March 12, Mark Valencia. The short answer to "can I keep quail and chickens together" is NO. Our quail pen is a separate enclosure within our chicken pen image above The reasons why you shouldn't keep these two beautiful species of domestic poultry together in the same pen are: Chickens might kill the quail — I once saw the aftermath of what happened to a sparrow that unfortunately fell into my chicken pen I suspect it had broken a wing and without going too much into detail all I could see was a frenzy of hens and when I got down to the pen all that was left of the sparrow was bloodied feathers and bones!
Having said that, whenever my quail have come into contact with my hens usually by accident the chickens haven't been over aggressive towards them apart from the odd peck; however, I wouldn't trust keeping them together full time.
Quail can fly further than a chicken — Most people let their chickens out of their enclosures at times to free-range or stretch their legs in the backyard etc. So if there's a mixed flock of chickens and quail it's much harder to manage because if the quail get out of the enclosure it's likely they'll be off and flying.
Quail can fly 50 metres in one go given the right conditions and that's a long way particularly on a small property. Most chickens on the other hand, can't fly much at all and can be contained by a neck high fence whereas quail will fly over.
The only way it could be done is if you were keeping chickens in an enclosed pen and never let them out. Even then, you'd have to be very careful not to inadvertently release the quail when collecting the chicken eggs or attending to the pen. Chickens eat quail eggs — That's right, chickens LOVE quail eggs and they soon work out how to break them and eat the quail eggs shell and all!
Therefore, if you are keeping quail to breed or you want to eat the eggs they provide then you can't have chickens in the same enclosure or you'll have no eggs. The reason why quail have a smaller mesh is because quail can be targeted by snakes and rodents as an easy food source.
Even small snakes that can get through chicken mesh can swallow a quail and rats as I've stated in many videos and articles before are the mortal enemy of quail and will kill them. I suppose you could waste money and build the full chicken enclosure out of aviary mesh but for the reasons above and below the case for not keeping these birds together has clearly been made… Feed requirements — Quail and chickens require different feed so keeping them in the same pen would cause a multitude of problems.
Quail feed is higher in protein than chicken feed and although hens do like to eat quail feed, it's not good for them to eat too much of it.
What would happen is the hens would eat all the quail feed and because quail don't care much for chicken feed especially the larger pellets the quail would be under nourished so you'd have a mixed flock of fat hens and skinny quail. They weigh between oz for the males and oz for the females. They are the lightest weight of the laying quail. The males are very active and can cover up to five females we do not recommend keeping them in pairs, we tend to sell in trios or quartets for breeding purposes.
There is no need to have any males if you just require the eggs for eating and not for hatching. The male has a dark head; the female is lighter and more speckled. The traditional wild coloured brown bird, very steady natured, and a dual purpose bird suitable for eggs and as a table bird. The males weigh between oz and the females weigh between 10 —12oz. The Japanese can lay up to eggs per year. The male has a russet breast, the female a speckled breast.
As these quail are slightly heavier they tend to be less flighty. A good all round bird. This is a large golden coloured quail similar to the Italian but much larger. They are a steady bird which makes a good bird for handling , they are predominantly bred to be a table bird with the males weighing oz and the females weighing between 12 —14oz.
They also lay a good amount of eggs up to per year. The males and females are the same as the Italian for identification. Can I keep my quail with chickens? Due to their housing requirements and size difference we do not recommend keeping them with chickens.
Can quail be free range? No, quail do not have a homing instinct and can fly quite well so free-range means lost birds. It is also illegal to release quail into the wild, as they are a non-indigenous species. Housing incorporating a run onto the grass is not a problem but please make sure it is vermin proof both from the ground and from the air.
As with chickens it is best to be able to move any run that is on grass around. Do quail need access to grass? As above they are quite happy with just shavings. If you do give them access to grass make sure it is short, as quail do not fend well if they get saturated in long grass when wet. What sort of bedding do I need? We recommend shavings, as they love to dust bath. You can use straw as well if you want. It is easier to find the eggs amongst the shavings.
Will quail lay all year around?
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