If you are raising chickens, there will come a time when you may want to raise quail too. Raising both birds together can be done but it is a bit of a balancing act.
In this article, you will know how to raise chicken and quail together.
Why Quail and Chickens Shouldn’t Be Raised Together
1. Disease Can Be Passed From Chickens to Quail
If you have chickens and quail, you need to be careful about the disease.
Chickens can carry diseases that are dangerous to quail. Small birds like quail are more susceptible than larger birds like chickens because they have less resistance.
If your flock of quail gets sick, it’s important to treat them quickly. If you don’t, the illness may spread to other birds in your flock or even other flocks in your area.
Here are some common diseases that can be passed from chickens to quail:
Pasteurella Multocida – This is a bacterial infection that causes respiratory problems for both chickens and quail. The symptoms include nasal discharge, coughing, and sneezing. This bacterium is often found in the soil and water, so it can easily spread from one flock to another if precautions aren’t taken during cleaning and disinfecting procedures.
Mycoplasma Gallisepticum – Also known as “mushy chick disease,” this disease causes respiratory problems for both chickens and quail. It isn’t known how it spreads from one bird to another, but it’s believed that contact with infected droppings is involved somehow (probably through contaminated surfaces).
2. Chickens Are Bullies
Chickens are bullies to quail. The quail are smaller than the chickens and they do not want to be bullied.
The chickens will try to chase them around, but if they catch them, then there is no escape for the quail.
If you have a rooster in your flock of chickens, then they will also try to chase him around too. If they catch him, then he will not be able to get away from them either.
The only way that he can get away is by flying up into the air and flying away from his enemies on the ground below him.
3. Quail Fly High
Chickens can fly short distances, while quails can fly long distances. Quails have been known to fly up to 1,000 feet (305 meters) — farther than most chickens do — so they’re more likely to get lost if they escape from your yard or run away from home.
4. Chickens Like to Eat Quail Eggs
Chickens are omnivores, meaning they eat both plants and other animals for food. Since quail eggs are about the same size as chicken eggs, chickens see no reason not to eat them.
In fact, chickens often prefer quail eggs because they have a richer flavor than chicken eggs do. They’re also softer and easier to digest than chicken eggs, which makes them a good choice for chicks who haven’t yet developed their digestive systems (though adult chickens will be fine with quail eggs too).
5. Different Feed Requirements
Chickens and quail have different feed requirements. Chickens need a higher protein diet than quail. This is because chickens grow much larger and need more food for energy production. Chickens are also egg laying birds, so their diet needs to be higher in nutrients that support egg production. The type of feed used for chicken production is often called layer or broiler mash. The mash contains corn, wheat, soybean meal, and other ingredients to give the bird all the nutrients it needs to grow and produce eggs.
Quail can be raised on a variety of grains, including wheat or corn, but they do not require a high protein diet as chickens do. They are also less likely to develop health issues related to eating too much protein. Quails should receive a balanced diet with some fruit or vegetable scraps added occasionally as well as a commercial feed designed specifically for quail production.
It’s Possible to Raise Chickens and Quail Together, But Not Easy
1. If Quail and Chickens Were Raised Together
Quail and chickens are two birds that make an excellent combination when raising them together. The quail is a small bird that can be raised in a backyard or kept in a small pen. The chickens take up more space, but they will provide you with eggs and meat.
The quail and chickens will live happily together if you do not let them get too close to one another. Quail are fast runners, so they will easily outrun your chicken flock if they get too close to each other. This can cause the quails to become injured or killed by your flock of chickens.
If you want to raise both of these types of birds together, it is important that you keep them separate from each other until they are fully grown. Keep them in separate pens when they are young and keep each pen separated by at least 25 feet between them at all times so that they cannot interact with each other until they reach maturity.
2. If the Quail are Kept With Bantams
If you have a quail cage and you want to keep bantam chickens, then you can keep them together.
When the quail are kept with bantams, they will eat each other’s eggs. They also make noise which can disturb the bantam’s sleep.
If you want to keep quail and bantams together, then make sure that they are separated by a fence or wire mesh so that they cannot get into each other’s nests.
The best way to do this is to put a small room in the same space as the quails so that they can get away from the noise when they need to sleep.
3. Free-Ranging Quails and Chickens Together
Many people are under the impression that free-ranging chickens and quails together is a bad idea. The truth of the matter is that you can free-range your chickens with quail and have no problems at all.
As long as you have good fencing between them, allowing both species to be outside together is fine. The only time you may have trouble is if one of the birds gets out and attacks or harms another bird. This can happen if they are not separated by fencing properly or if one of them has escaped from its enclosure somehow. However, this problem can be easily avoided by keeping your birds inside until they get used to each other first.
If you want to keep quails with your chickens, then it’s best to start with chicks rather than adults because they will be easier to train and control than adult birds would be. You will also need to make sure that their enclosures are close enough together so that they can see each other but far enough away so that they cannot get into each other’s space or territory.
Final Thoughts on Raising Chicken and Quail
It is important to learn how to raise chicken and quail together before you decide that you want to keep both in your flock. The quail will not only provide eggs for your table, but their offspring will become more chickens for the said table. Understanding how to raise chicken and quail together can also help mitigate hostility between your two pet birds.
