Our first eggs, a few questions?

[Dean&Laura]

Hello,

I'm pretty new here and this is my first post. I've read every chinese painted quail blog and helpsheet and factsheet on the net but still have a few questions here and there and we were wondering if you could help us solve a few mysteries?

We have two chinese painted quails, a boy and a girl who live as pets in our flat. They have a large gerbil cage filled with alot of luxuries (because we love spoiling them) but recently, they have started displaying alot of different behaviours.

On Monday we got our first egg, laid in their shop bought nest. We were anxious to see if the hen (Molly) would incubate. Tuesday, and today she laid another. Khaki coloured, slightly speckled, and slightly bigger than a mini egg. We're hoping she may lay a clutch, then incubate.

But we were wondering on a few behaviours that they seem to be displaying:

* The male and female occasionally peck at the eggs a few times, we were wondering if they were attacking them, or were just 'checking' on them to see if they were alright? Maybe trying to turn them?

* The male makes low constant 'frog noises' when the female is due to lay and they increase when one of us go near the cage to change their food or water. Is this a guarding noise? Is he asking us to move away or is it just a normal, every day quail noise? (This has only recently started in the last week)

* The male and the female seem to be 'taking it in turns' to lay outside the mouth of the nest where the eggs are. They simply sit at the entrance, could they be guarding the clutch? (they've never 'sat' on their litter before, only on their log)

* The female loves cuttlefish, but recently has really been going at it, almost all the time, is it restoring her calcium, or should i provide more for her to eat?

We love our quails so much and just want to give them the best we can. Thank you for your time and for reading this.

 

[Marigold]

Hi, Dean and Laura, and a big welcome to the Forum. Good to have two more quail addicts on here. Like you, I'm a beginner with quail, so don't claim any special knowledge of quail, and also I keep coturnix, although there's quite a lot they have in common with CPQs.
Yes the noise the male is making is his mating call, tells her he's wanting to mate, and no doubt is doing this frequently. I think probably as new parents they are just interested in the eggs, and since quail often lay anywhere in the cage, if they are rolling the eggs around into the nest that's harmless. What are you feeding them? The female obviously feels she needs extra calcium from the cuttlefish to lay her eggs, so it's good she's got that supplement. Many people feed layers pellets as these are suitable for laying hens, though the protein content is not ideal for quail who need a minimum of 20% preferably higher. I feed Garvo Alfachick which is high protein and has mini pellets mixed with various seeds and grains, made really for growing chicks but good for quail. You can also supplement with dried mealworms for extra protein.
Don't be disappointed if she won't sit on the eggs, it's quite rare for quail to do this, at least it is in coturnix, as it's been bred out of them through hundreds of years of domestication. Maybe it's more likely in CPQs as they are not economic egg producers so not subject to such pressures. But if she does sit, you will need to remove the male, either by dividing the cage with wire mesh so he can see her but not get to her, or find him another cage. If left, he will disturb her from sitting with his randy demands, and if she does hatch any, he is highly likely to attack and kill them. Male CPQs are notoriously aggressive little blighters and not tolerant of 'pregnant' wives or babies. The best thing might be to get him another wife, preferably a couple, to spread the load, as otherwise a single female will get the brunt of all his lovemaking and it will wear away her head feathers and she may be injured. Quail sex is not noted for its foreplay or finesse! Have you got a supply of that antiseptic purple spray for cage birds, for use if needed? A second-hand hamster cage or similar is also good to have, as a hospital cage - mine cost £2.50 at the recycling centre. Of course you could treat yourselves to a small incubator, like the Brinsea Mini Advance I've got, which will take up to 12 quail eggs and have all the fun of hatching the babies for them. The first eggs may not all be fertile, best to wait until she's had a bit of practice and her system has got well into 'puberty' before collecting them for hatch.

 

[Dean&Laura]

thanks for the reply!

he is making alot of unusual noises all the time but we find it amusing, especially when he gives his call and she looks at him as if to say: 'what you doing?'

we feed them canary seed which was advised to us by the member of staff at the place we bought them from, they seem to love it. We also give them water cress, lettuce, a handful of dried meal worms each day (which they both go crazy for), and some cuttlefish to keep things interesting for them. I've looked at the pellets but there are so many, i don't know which is the best to go for.

We have dettol spray for the cage as i wanted to get the thing that i knew was safe for humans, but their lovemaking rituals are quite comical, it seems when she consents to it, he is quite gentle with her and never pulls her feathers out, but if she thinks he is being too demanding, she will pin him down and rip out some of his feathers! needless to say he's been tended to quite a bit with a 'well, it serves you right'

We're not sure on incubating yet as we wanted to see how she did as a natural parent but the chances are in the future we'd hatch one or two just because we adore these little guys so much!

thank you so much.

 

[Marigold]

Obviously lucky birds, and very well cared for. However I would get disinfectant which is designed to be safe with birds, such as Poultryshield, or on a small scale you can buy spray bottles in a pet shop of stuff called Clean and Safe. I think maybe Dettol is a bit strong and you do have to be very careful about fumes and toxins with such tiny birds as CPQs. Also, to keep them in breeding condition, maybe get a small bag of chick crumb and mix some of this in to the canary seed to add protein? - also hard boiled egg chopped up is good, especially the yolk, (no salt) but with the other extras they're getting a good and varied diet.

 

[Lordcluck]

VERY pampered birds!! They certainly want for nothing!! I used to keep CPQ many years ago, and found them delightful little birds!!
The pecking behaviour they are showing suggests Inquistive, investigative behaviour rather than egg eating. If they were determined they would persevere and quickly open the egg and devour it. The fact that the hen is laying in a 'nest' is encouraging, it suggests her nesting instincts are quite strong. Many domestic strains of CPQ show little natural breeding instinct and lay eggs here and there and ignore them.

They form quite strong pair bonds, with the male guarding his hen and nest Territory, so the nest guarding and 'growling/croaking' is quite natural, defensive behaviour in the cock. A wild hen may lay up to eight eggs in a clutch, but Domestic strains may lay many more,. She will require extra calcium during this time, hence her increased appetite for cuttlefish, You might want to offer her some mineralised cage bird grit as well just to keep her reserves up. I used to provide my Quail with a dish of ' Avisand' as well, cage bird sand with trace elements that they loved to pick over and Dust bathe in.

The diet youre providing sounds good, but as Marigold suggests some Chick crumbs may provide a protein boost for the adults during the laying season. Dried Mealworms have very little Nutritional value, so perhaps a few live ones every day might be more beneficial.
If youre lucky,your hen will sit and hatch her clutch, and the male should also join in and take care of the chicks, brooding and calling them to food. CPQ chicks are TINY!! mine could walk through half inch twiweld mesh without ducking!! and they are born escapologists so be prepared!! Such tiny chicks require correspondingly fine first feed. Baby chick crumbs which have been rolled or pounded down to a meal will make a good staple food. I used to provide mine with mashed hard-boiled egg as well. just enough for them to eat in a few minutes. Egg can go bad quickly, so it's best not left in their cage for long periods. Chicks are also highly adept at drowning themselves, so shallow gravity drinkers are best, and even then I used to place fine washed Aquarium gravel in the trough, so chicks had some purchase to climb out, should they have decided to go for a dip!

CPQ chicks grow fast! and are mature at eight weeks and ready to breed themselves within the year of their hatch. The cock will take charge of them whilst his hen lays another clutch. He will keep the peace amongst his growing sons, but they will need seperating from their father in time to prevent the risk of fighting. Males vary in this respect, some are more pugnacious than others, but most adult males in breeding condition will not tolerate another male around. Good luck with your birds, and don't forget to keep us posted on their antics!!!

 

[Marigold]

That's so interesting, Lordcluck, I hadn't realised how very different they are in their domestic arrangements. They sound much more civilised than coturnix. If you can just keep a pair I might get some - with coturnix you really need at least 3-4 hens to one male so you end up with lots of birds. Mine also love their sandbath - because they get through it so fast I just use silver sand from Homebase and dry it in roasting tins in the oven (gives a lovely crispy coating to the roast potatoes I find.) When I put in a fresh dish, 3 or 4 of them crowd to have a communal dry jacuzzi, working it right into their wingpits and then standing up and shaking it everywhere. It's so funny to watch them.

 

[Lordcluck]

Yes they really throw themselves into Dust bathing!! You can Keep more females per male, and he will willingly mate with them, but I found pairs were more likely to settle down to nest. Some Cocks can be hard on their females, large pens with plenty of cover may help, or increasing the number of hens may diffuse the boisterousness of an over amorous cock! Generally speaking I found them less Spiteful than Japanese Quail.

 

[Dean&Laura]

Thank you so much for your assistance! I am so glad i joined here, there is so much to learn and this is the best place i have come across.

Our quails adore a good sandbath, in between laying, she will bathe frequently, dipping her rear end delicately in to the sand. We were advised to get 2-3 hens to a male but he seems content with his 'wife' and doesn't annoy her or hurt her at all.

If she does nest and incubates, will they be alright to hatch with the 'father' present? I've heard contradicting advice on whether to allow him to be there or not when the eggs hatch and whether to remove the babies to a 'brooder', i'd ideally like to keep everything as natural as we can but if it would put the chicks in danger we would do anything to keep them safe.

will definitly get some chick crumb, our local hardware/petshop does it.

 

[Marigold]

If she did manage to hatch them it would be a bit mean to take them away from her, don't you think? - no reason to suppose she couldn't bring them up as a single mum, if you thought it might be best to remove him for a few weeks? I think it would either have to be that you hatched the eggs in an incubator and brought up the chicks yuorselves in a heated brooder cage, or that you waited to see if she would brood them herself and then maybe watch him like a hawk and see how it went?

 

[Dean&Laura]

well, i certainly have a lot of free time to watch them, we're just about to buy them a egg laying gift, a bigger cage so they can get even more spoiled!