Aviary life for chickens

[BelovedBirds]

Right, firstly know this has nothing to do with me. I do not own chickens nor do I plan to.
In my town they have a bird aviary, and they have recently added chickens which does concern me. This aviary is large, goes up pretty high, it may be a few metres by a couple metres in floor space per section, it is extremely hard to tell exactly. There have always been quail (bobwhites and californian I believe?) canaries, diamond doves, perhaps some types of finches, and parrots, parakeets, ringnecks, etc. In one section they have love birds.
Then they added a couple of different types of pheasants and a partridge. They did appear agitated, and each was in a separate section so no companionship of their own kind.
I've always been bothered by the mixing of so many species which surely have different dietary requirements and may clash with other birds. But as far as I've been able to tell, there have never been any huge issues, I'm yet to see/hear of injuries or fighting. I felt the pheasants and partridge should be removed.

It got worse and in October they added an entire flock of chickens, I'm not sure how many, but I can say definitely more than 4 per section. And at least one is a rooster.

Now, it feels wrong to me, and I'm sure this must be problematic, having chickens housed with so many other types of birds in an aviary. But just how worrying is it? Am I overreacting by being upset about this, I know little about these species.
I'm looking for opinions on this housing situation, any opinions on this aviary are welcome.

 

[BelovedBirds]

Right, firstly know this has nothing to do with me. I do not own chickens nor do I plan to.
In my town they have a bird aviary, and they have recently added chickens which does concern me. This aviary is large, goes up pretty high, it may be a few metres by a couple metres in floor space per section, it is extremely hard to tell exactly. There have always been quail (bobwhites and californian I believe?) canaries, diamond doves, perhaps some types of finches, and parrots, parakeets, ringnecks, etc. In one section they have love birds.
Then they added a couple of different types of pheasants and a partridge. They did appear agitated, and each was in a separate section so no companionship of their own kind.
I've always been bothered by the mixing of so many species which surely have different dietary requirements and may clash with other birds. But as far as I've been able to tell, there have never been any huge issues, I'm yet to see/hear of injuries or fighting. I felt the pheasants and partridge should be removed.

It got worse and in October they added an entire flock of chickens, I'm not sure how many, but I can say definitely more than 4 per section. And at least one is a rooster.

Now, it feels wrong to me, and I'm sure this must be problematic, having chickens housed with so many other types of birds in an aviary. But just how worrying is it? Am I overreacting by being upset about this, I know little about these species.
I'm looking for opinions on this housing situation, any opinions on this aviary are welcome.

Side note, almost all of the birds are rehomed here, some are rescues, some are given to the aviary- not bought or bred to be there.

 

[Barnette]

Do you have any pictures of the aviary? I'm having trouble imagining this lol

 

[OrpingtonManiac]

I agree, pictures would be helpful.
Still, keeping chickens with so many other species of birds is bad because of diseases.

 

[BelovedBirds]

It's impossible for me to get clear photos of the entire aviary just due to the shape and how it's built- but I grabbed a few photos from online which show some of the inside
The space seems okay, but there's so many different kinds of birds, and all these birds in the pictures are in with the chickens. So you have chickens, pheasants, partridges, quail, doves, canaries and other exotic birds, including cockatiels and Cockatoos. Some of the pictures look as if the aviary is mostly empty space, that isn't accurate. Presently there are dozens of birds. I believe over a 150 in total? I saw a chicken hen perched on a little branch with a couple of budgies next to her so they are mixing with eachother. I don't think they're too overcrowded, if at all, as there are 3 large aviaries joined together complete with an indoor section in the middle. But it's a lot of birds and they definitely fill the space.

@Barnette @OrpingtonManiac

 

[BelovedBirds]

My concern is making me want to contact the volunteers and see if they're sure keeping the chickens is a good idea, maybe encourage them to rehome them or build a separate aviary for them. But I don't want to say anything in ignorance, so opinions from fellow bird keeepers would be good

 

[OrpingtonManiac]

Feeding seems like a bit of a concern here, chickens will need completely different food from pheasants, doves etc. especially laying hens.
Even keeping roosters and hens together, they'll need an all flock feed.
I'm wondering, if there is hens, which will eventually lay eggs, are there any nestboxes?

 

[BelovedBirds]

Feeding seems like a bit of a concern here, chickens will need completely different food from pheasants, doves etc. especially laying hens.
Even keeping roosters and hens together, they'll need an all flock feed.
I'm wondering, if there is hens, which will eventually lay eggs, are there any nestboxes?

I agree. I imagine there would be some sort of nesting boxes in the indoor section, they've had quail a long time so I'm sure they're used to laying hens needs. Diet is a big concern though, I'd be worried that they aren't getting the nutrients they need, or the protein- how would they ever ensure that each species is eating what they need?

 

[OrpingtonManiac]

I agree. I imagine there would be some sort of nesting boxes in the indoor section, they've had quail a long time so I'm sure they're used to laying hens needs. Diet is a big concern though, I'd be worried that they aren't getting the nutrients they need, or the protein- how would they ever ensure that each species is eating what they need?

Yeah
if its possible, You could ask them about diet and the individual species needs..