Restoration
|
Not all restoration programs work equally. The planting of adult quail has produced less than acceptable results. For this reason, we have found that units using chicks and planting them to your chosen area works extremely well.
One thing is for sure. If the system is not built to do the job with the proper heat, feed, water and a dry area for the growing birds to use, it most likely won't work. The one other point to consider is habitat. If you don't have a habitat that will support quail, the released birds will seek a new location. we tested a Quail Restoration Technologies Surrogator. We worked with Jason Johnson ( Quail Restoration Technologies ) to see how well the surrogator functioned. The results were better then I had ever expected. Jason said that the normal loss rate was 10% of the chicks placed in the unit. We placed what we would ship to a customer ( 125 plus 5% = 130 chicks ) in the unit for three cycles. Cycle 1 lost 4 chicks, cycle 2 lost 3 chicks and cycle 3 lost 4 chicks. The only thing we did was follow directions, used our best feed and attended the unit as directed. On our advice, some changes were made to the unit, but they were only to help make the surrogater more user friendly. I plan on using surrogators to produce my breeder flock. They turn out a strong bird. They weather sooner then brooder housed chicks, they have more access to fresh air, the unit requires minimal time to maintain, they require little space, and it works. The Surrogator is a trade mark and Patent protected produce of Wildlife Management Technologies. The groups who claim that this will not work are moved by Mandate, an authoritative instruction or command; the wishes of a political group or contract by which one party agrees to perform services for another without payment. This is a block from the reality that most States have stocked pen -raised quail in large numbers and failed to do the homework needed to do it properly. Researcher Derrell Ellsworth wrote that game farm quail were similar in several measures of genetic fitness. Early enviroment may be more influential than genetically programmed instincts. Priority must be given to developing rearing procedures that minimize contact with humans to promote natural behavior patterns. State programs got eggs from who knows where, hatched them, stuck them in big brooding houses and then moved them to over crowded flight pens and then dumped them. I had seen several of these State run operations in my youth. Bare open pens that were crowded in plain public view where the birds had consistent human contact through vision as well as other means. Bobwhite quail have been established in three non-native states; Washington, Oregon and Idaho.They used hatchery reared chicks and released them as sub-adult. The ringneck pheasant was hatchery reared for introduction into this country. The Atwaters prarie chicken is being hatched and reared in captivity and being reintroduced to new ranges. Fish are hatchery reared and stocked. I could go on, but the point is someone took the old mistakes and corrected them rather then sit and say something that is "Our opinion, " We think," or whatever comes to mind. I failed to mention Chuker partridge doing well in its new home in America; a bird from Europe that I don't think was transported and introduced as an adult.
We strongly encourage everyone who buys game birds from any source, whether it be us, or anybody else, to obtain eggs, chicks, or adults from a source registered with the State Animal Health Department and are enrolled in the National Poultry Improvement Program. For more information, contact us at |
Address Phone Email kenneths@birdsofbrilliance.com Hours of Operation |
We recommend that you look into using the Quail Restoration Technologies Surrogator using day-old chicks. It is a well-built system and was developed for this use. 
You will not be able to gain any ground with this movement. Its like fighting a pig in the mud; they love it. There is another side that knows when it is done properly it will work. Our experience says that it is true. Limiting factor will always be habitat and using the proper program.