446 ARTIFICIAL PROPAGATION OF GROUSE 



Those who raised some grouse, and there have been many, found them to be tame and 

 rather easy to manage. Though normally not a social species, at the New York Research Cen- 

 ter they can be kept congenially a part of the year in flocks of up to 300 individuals. In cap- 

 tivity, at least, grouse are polygamous. The eggs are not too difficult to hatch in incubators. 

 Once the chicks have passed the month-old mark, they are as easy to raise as quail. 



But there are substantial difficulties to be overcome before mass production is economically 

 feasible. 



For instance, physiologically, most female grouse do not seem to be gaited to lay the large 

 numbers of eggs normally produced by the species which have been successfully raised in 

 captivity. It is the occasional bird which lays more than 30 eggs that holds forth the 

 promise of developing a high producing strain by selective breeding. 



The difficulty of synchronizing the mating period of the sexes and the tendency of the male 

 to viciously dominate the female during much of the breeding period are frequent causes 

 for trouble. An even more puzzling problem is presented by the chicks, many of which have 

 a discouraging way of dying in the first month without any thus far detectable reason. Here 

 again careful selection of the breeding stock to correct this difficulty may prove the solution. 



None of these troubles appear to be insurmountable. Eight years of selective breeding at 

 the Research Center directed at increasing egg production, fertility, livability and social bal- 

 ance, have shown some encouraging though many conflicting results. As every breeder knows 

 this period is far too short to change even one characteristic when so many factors are 

 involved. Quite frankly, a way of eliminating the early losses among young birds has not 

 yet been found. That it may ultimately be accomplished is indicated by an occasional season 

 during which 50 to 80 per cent of the birds hatched were raised to maturity. 



Some may be surprised that the much publicized susceptibility of grouse to disease is not 

 included as a primary difficulty. In the light of today's experience, this factor is no more 

 difficult to control in propagating grouse than in quail. In fact, unless intelligently handled, 

 more birds may be lost, particularly in spring and fall, through the desire of some indi- 

 vidual birds, usually males, to dominate their penmates. This tendency may be referred to 

 as the "dominance complex". It may cause fighting and chasing, sometimes resulting in severe 

 injuries to the subordinate birds, and it may also seriously impair the breeding potential of 

 many of them. Unlike the primary difficulties listed above, these last two have been satis- 

 factorily overcome. 



There has been one other substantial bar to progress, a characteristic not of the birds but 

 of those who would raise them. Until recently, artificial propagation has been largely an 

 empirical procedure. Here success depended upon the fortuitous blending of native intuition 

 with a knowledge of the "secrets" of the trade. In many instances these have been well 

 guarded. 



Although, when i)r(>p('rly ecjuippcd. it is ti>d;i\ no trick to raise these birds from eggs col- 

 lected in the wild, little progress is likely to result from so doing, for every conceivable angle 

 of this procedure has been thoroughly explored. It is lime indeed for the enthusiastic grouse 





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