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Wildlife Management Technologies

Surrogate Propagation

In response to nationally diminishing numbers in the native quail population, hunters and wildlife enthusiasts have attempted to give quail a boost by developing ways of introducing pen raised quail into the wild.

Baby pheasant chicks

Quail release systems rose in popularity in the 1970’s, as quail numbers everywhere began a noticeable decline. All were used with very limited success due to three consistent problems. The released birds suffered high losses due to predation. Any surviving birds tended to move away from the release area, and were unable to be recovered. Finally, any birds that did remain displayed extremely poor flight performance.

Through the years there have been countless remakes and “refinements” of these methods. While there have been occasional circumstances that proved better than others, the success rate has averaged between 0-3%. There have been some reports of success as high as 9%.

In 1979, while working with a hunt club, we began using release systems in an effort to help our clients have a larger huntable population of quail on their properties. Between 1979 and 1990, we released nearly one million quail throughout Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas, with virtually zero success. In the early 90’s, we wondered if perhaps there was something we were overlooking in the release method. Were pen-raised quail themselves flawed or was it the release method that was still not perfected?

Quail chicks in unit

We noted that in all three systems quail were raised in a facility, until they were nine weeks of age or older, transported from where they were raised then released in an altogether different location.

We started at what we believed to be the very beginning. What was the difference between native and pen raised birds? We began a series of experiments comparing day-old pen raised quail to day-old native quail.

By using day-old quail, we were experimenting with birds that had not been influenced by captivity. Native quail eggs were placed in an incubator and hatched out. They were then taken in total isolation to a prepared one-acre pen. From behind a screen, the native day-old chicks were released into the grass. For thirty minutes, their behavior was as expected: pecking and feeding on insects. After thirty minutes, we leapt from behind the screen, whistling and disrupting them in order to record their reaction. Not surprisingly, the day-old native birds reacted to the stimuli by scattering and hiding motionless in the grass. After about 1 ½ minutes they began their “lost chick” call and slowly emerged from hiding to resume their former activities of feeding and pecking. After considerable repetition, we concluded that, in every case, native day-old chicks responded to stimuli by hiding and becoming motionless. This was a favorable trait bred over hundreds of years to increase their chances of survival from predation.

Surrogator™ with 3 day old Pheasant Chicks

The next test group consisted of eggs obtained from a respected game bird breeder. Twenty-five eggs were placed in an incubator and hatched out. Upon hatching and drying they were removed, in total isolation, from the incubator. They were taken to a separate one-acre pen and released from behind a screen. We observed their behavior for thirty minutes. The pen-raised offspring displayed behavior that was identical to the native birds. After thirty minutes, we leapt from behind a screen, whistling and behaving disruptively in order to record their reaction. To our surprise, their behavior was identical to that of their native cousins. 

Frankly, we were surprised by this reaction from the pen-raised offspring. There had been no discernable difference between the native offspring and the pen-raised offspring. Both knew instinctively how to survive by hiding and remaining motionless and quiet until danger passed. It was obvious that a few generations raised in a pen could not dilute hundreds of generations of native behavior. It was also obvious that both test groups possessed survival instincts at one day of age. What was happening between one day of age and sixteen weeks of age to cause birds to lose their survival instincts?

Chicks in unit by feed trough

For sixteen weeks each group was tested weekly for their reaction to stimuli. Conditions for both test groups were identical. Both were isolated in a facility with little to no human contact. At the fourth week we noticed some changes in both test groups. A few birds in each test group began to respond more slowly to the stimuli. There was a continual deterioration of reaction to stimuli, each subsequent week until the birds reached nine weeks of age, at which time 70-75% of them no longer reacted to the stimuli.

When their athleticism was measured, the native birds proved to be more athletic. When pressed harder in the later stages of the experiment, their flight maneuverability was greater than the pen raised stock. We could only speculate that this is due to the natural selection process that occurs in the native population.

We further concluded that quail raised in a pen develop both behavioral and physical problems that reduce their survivability in the wild. The behavioral problems developed as a result of atrophying of survival instincts. All quail, even offspring of pen-raised birds, are born with survival instincts. The “taming” of these birds when kept in captivity past the age of about five weeks dramatically affects their survivability in the wild.

The physical problems pen-raised quail develop also affect a quail’s survivability. Birds raised in a pen have lower physical activity than native birds, as well as easy access to plentiful food. This leads to, what we refer to as, the “feed-lot” syndrome. These birds are too heavy and too physically out of shape to elude danger, even if they were so inclined. They also retain moisture in their feathers at a greater volume than their native counterparts. This makes them more susceptible to chilling, leading to higher mortality than native quail.

Further research revealed evidence that quail possess a homing instinct. In one study, quail fitted with telemetry equipment have been tracked traveling forty miles only to return to within a few yards of the trapping location. We spent some time with some experts who had successfully established ducks and geese on new bodies of water, using the homing instinct. By clipping the wings of the parent ducks or geese, the experts were able to ensure their nesting location. The birds followed their normal migratory patterns and flew south, but when they returned north, both parents and offspring returned to their respective birthplaces. In this manner, new flocks were established on specific bodies of water. This provided us with critical information about raising birds from one day of age on a specific location and was a vital step to our success.

Surrogator™ placed in CRP field

Armed with this new information, we developed a patented system called Surrogate Propagation™. To combat leaving an area, we instilled a home range in quail by raising them on location and imprinting them to a piece of property. We took day old quail, placed them in a piece of equipment that provided food, water, warmth and protection for the first five weeks of life, the time in life when they are most vulnerable.

To reduce their susceptibility to predators we released the birds at five weeks of age while they still possessed survival instincts. We released them during the summer months when cover was good, insects were plentiful and predation on quail was minimal.

It appeared that the physical problems fixed themselves, by releasing the birds at five weeks of age. The “Surrogated” quail were not turning their food into fat stores, but instead using it to grow. Their body weight, when compared to pen raised birds from the same hatch, was less.  By the age of ten weeks, birds released from The Surrogator™ also showed a greater ability to repel water than their pen raised siblings.

Forty-five tests were conducted in Oklahoma and Texas. Of these, 43 were successful and two were not.  Both failures, one in Catoosa, OK and one in San Angelo, TX, occurred when five-week-old birds were released later than recommended, in the middle of November. A cold front passed through, dropping temperatures down in the 30’s and bringing three days of rain. Five-week-old birds are not mature enough to weather such harsh condition. 

In 2006, our clients released around 300,000 quail in over 30 states from The Surrogator™ units. A random survey conducted a few years ago indicated an average of 65% survival. The highest was over 90%.

Surrogator™ placed next to Magnet Mix Food Plot site in CRP

Unexpectedly, we soon learned of a tremendously exciting by-product of the use of the Surrogate Propagation system. Clients were experiencing successful reproduction of birds released from The Surrogator™. An example of this occurred on a 17,000-acre ranch in Catoosa, Oklahoma, known to have very few quail. Forty-four banded birds were released from a Surrogator™ unit in June. We used Tennessee Reds, a bird with unique markings and coloration, in an effort to determine any successful reproduction. Upon our return to the area, January 28th, 19 months later, we located seven coveys of quail in 2 ½ hours and recovered thirty-six. Of the 36 recovered, each one had the Tennessee Red markings and all were unbanded, proving that these were in fact offspring of the birds released from The Surrogator™ unit.

In 2003, we started implementing this successful system with ringneck pheasants.  Like quail, pheasants are experiencing severe declines over much of their home range.  After several years the results have shown that the surrogate propagation system has proven to work equally as well with pheasants.

In addition to bobwhite quail and pheasants, the Surrogate Propagation system has proven to be tremendously successful with blue (scaled) quail and chukar.   Future experiments with grouse and partridge are planned.  For more information, visit www.quailrestoration.com or www.pheasantrestoration.com, or call 316-200-0134.

5 week old quail flying from surrogator™