what was he doing?! (Chinese painted quail behavior)

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Dean&Laura

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Our female has been laying for 12 days now and is getting fussy over who she lets near her nest. Our male has been very good, guarded when she laid, pecked our hands when we went to count the eggs and titbitted for her. He is a very tame and friendly little chap.

Our male plucked her tail feathers a few days back and after a cool down period in the 'naughty cage' he was allowed to rejoin her which she was delighted about and he seemed very happy with.

Tonight he did something very odd. After a normal evening of eating, foraging, enjoying a mealworm, and mating, he made a strange kind of rapid, accelerated 'peeping' followed by his head ducked and his wings out, charging around the cage and nipping at her when she got too close. He sounded a bit like a metal detector when it finds something.

It wasn't normal mating behaviour, it terrified her and she clambered onto her nest for safety. He would not stop, so we moved him back to the naughty cage.

We were wondering why he did this and what it was and if we should be concerned or try and stop it.

They are a solitary pair, the same age and have lived quite harmoniously for the last three months.

I would appreciate any help or advice on the matter, thank you so much in advance.
 
How interesting! I can only add my conjectures to yours as I've not kept CPQs.
Possibly whatever he did is part of the mating and nesting rituals for CPQs - unless she is being physically harmed, maybe leave them to it? As you say she climbed on to the nest for safety, could he possibly be indicating to her that it was time to get serious and sit in earnest? If she's been laying for 12 days, this is quite a large clutch, I would imagine.
I love the idea of the 'naughty cage' - but not sure if it would modify behaviour, though useful to give the hen some respite if she was being feather-pecked or otherwise harassed. I wonder if she would sit if left to herself, without him around? Have you discovered anything more in your researches about the usual behaviour of CPQ males whilst the hen is brooding?
I'm really interested in what is happening here, as I have a pair of coturnix which have been alone together all winter, and now she is laying in a nest in the cage instead of all over the floor as coturnix usually do, and the male is displaying similar behaviours to what you report. Very kind and solicitous to the hen, lets her have first go at the mealworms, and when I approach or put my hand in the cage he makes a sort of vibrating noise, like an engine heard in the distance, and all his feathers go up on end and quiver from head to tail. I suppose this is to warn off me, or any other males if there were some? He keeps going in the nest to inspect the eggs (8 so far) but she isn't very interested in them so I don't know if she will sit when the clutch is complete (or indeed if she will sit at all - it's very rare in coturnix, but then they don't usually have the luxury of a nice big cage all to themselves and eggs left for them after they are laid. Do male CPQs drop foam balls all over the floor of the cage? Male coturnix produce balls of foam which looks like sperm but is actually a lubricant I believe and if not used they excrete it all over. sort of like teenege boys.....You can sex them by about 6-8 weeks by gently squeezing their rear end to see if the foam is produced.
do keep in touch, I'm fascinated, and I hope someone who has actually kept CPQs can come on and help us both.
 
I did consider he may be saying: "ENOUGH! SIT ON YOUR BLOODY EGGS!" --at least i hope so. She has a clutch of 11 very healthy looking eggs (except for number 10 who had a slight accident and has a dent but not actual perforation into the membrane).

We seperated them over night and they were calling for one another quite pathetically with the male doing the same noise but without the charging around. This morning when we let him back into the big cage and they started mating straight away and now he's being attentive again.

With them CPQ's we've not been able to find a great deal about mating and brooding behaviour as not many people write about their behavior in this stage, or if they have, google can't find it. :( We're kind of writing our own mental book on what to expect though everyone here has been fantastic about telling us what they know. :)

Our male doesn't seem to be leaving the foam balls everywhere but i think that's because he has an 'outlet' as our female is very happy to lie down for him whenever he fancies it. (it usually takes three goes then they get it right).
 
I expect foam balls are probably a Coturnix thing, then, - interesting. This morning mine had 8 eggs in the nest and last nights offering on the ground outside, so I left it to see if it moves at all! I don't think mine will sit - if egg not in best by tomorrow I shall give up the idea.
 
Our female has been quite tidy, she laid all of her eggs in her nest and checks on them regularly, occasionally she will try and tuck them under her then gives up as if she's not sure, or isn't sure on how many more she needs. I heard that CPQ can lay 14 plus so...we may be in for a wait.

I hope both of ours sit. I would love to have some babies. :)
 
I've got a friend who I think has kept these type of Quail. I took the liberty of copying your post and forwarding it to him. If I get a reply will post it here. :)
 
They're lovely - what are their names?
This morning, my pair had roilled the egg from the cage floor into the nest, and another one had been laid, also in the nest. Now up to 12 I think, so feeling hopeful again!
 
Molly and Houdini (Houdini was so called for his escape attempts)

There is indeed hope! Molly has laid 12 now and we're expecting 13 today. :)
 
Cant help with CPQ as only have japs (so far!) hope this is ok putting this link up, they are dedicated to quail & I have learnt a lot from here

coturnixcorner.com/
 
Yes I've posted on Coturnix Corner and as you say there are some experienced people on there but I've found there's very little traffic on this forum as you will see if you look at the dates on the posts. There is another forum with an active and expert lot of quail people available who have helped me a lot, and I can pm this link if you're interested.
 
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