Puffed up coturnix quail?

[MamaBear228]

Okay so kind of a long story! I have one 8 week old coturnix female. I had recently gotten 5 two week old coturnix quail babies and had them in a separate cage due to age difference. For some unknown reason 4 of the babies passed over a span of 4 days despite my efforts. With one baby left and both my female and the baby nonstop calling for their friends i decided to try putting them together(very aware of the age gap and not being advised to mix them) they have been together for 4 days now and go everywhere together and the baby has been growing rapidly somehow over these couple days, but ive noticed that when any of us get to close to their cage the female puffs her feathers up a few times.. Is this her being protective? Is she scared? She was my first batch of quail(she had 4 brothers but i dont keep boys as i want eggs) So ive never observed this kind of behavior. Any advice? Is it her preparing to lay her first egg?

 

[jasonmichalski]

My quail do it all the time they like to act big and bad every once in a while, lol!

 

[Erkenstein]

She might also crouch down to jump and peck you when you reach into the cage. It's her turf so no biggie.