THE INCUBATOR-BROODER METHOD OF RAISING GROUSE 



459 



Caring for the Breeding Stock 



One key to the successful production of any game species is the quality of the breeding 

 stock*. With grouse this is all-important, for the gradual increase in the number of fertile 

 eggs laid per female through selective breeding is a prerequisite to large-scale production. 



Once secured, there are three problem periods to be considered in handling grouse breeders. 

 Least attention is usually given to the over-wintering of the breeders. This is a mistake for it 

 is then that the number of eggs to be produced the following season is largely determined. 

 Most attention is paid to the spring period when the breeders are actually mating and laying 

 their eggs. Likewise, there is a tendency to forget the adults again while they are moulting 

 and recuperating during the succeeding summer and fall. 



Over-Wintering Grouse Breeders 



Pens and Penning. By the first of October the birds of the year become restless in their 

 rearing pens. Adult breeders have completed their moult and are ready to be moved into 

 winter quarters. Although it is advisable to separate the males from the females, larger 

 numbers of birds can be held together throughout the winter than at any other time. 



Adult grouse are not particularly disturbed by normal rains, snow or sleet. On sub-zero 



Gardiner Bump 



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days their movements are restricted somewhat but they do not appear to be uncomfort- 

 able. The one item of weather which they dislike particularly is wind. Windy days are nerv- 

 ous days for grouse both penned and in the wild. 



At the Research Center, two all-purpose pens placed end to end, making a single enclosure 

 8 feet X 32 feet x 3 feet with a shelter at either end, easily house up to 20 breeders. Eight 

 birds can be fairly successfully maintained over winter in half this space, though the work 

 of caring for a smaller group would, of course, be doubled. To provide perches and places 



* For methods of obtaining breeding stock, see p. 451. 



