28 FISn AND GAME COMMISSION 



and the Division did just that. There is no doubt in the mind of the 

 writer tliat at the close of the duck season there were not less than two 

 million birds on our refuges — breeding stock for the next year. Con- 

 tinual work is necessar.y on waterfowl refuges in order that satisfactory 

 conditions may be provided to take care of the enormous number of 

 birds that croAvd in. That the birds are well aware of the boundaries 

 of the protected areas is apparent. When flocks are noted they seem 

 to know when they cross the fence line and quickly settle with their 

 fellows on the open water. California was one of the first states to 

 provide such areas. 



GAME FARMS 



Production and distribution from our tw^o game farms has been 

 increased very materially in the past two years. The chief factor in 

 this added increase is the further development of the holding pen 

 j)rogram. From a small beginning in 1931, when 16 pens were built 

 at Cotati in Sonoma County, this program has developed year by year 

 until at the present time we are serving about 800 of these pens. In 

 1932 Bakersfield built the second unit of pens in the state. This unit 

 consisted of 20 pens. To show more definitely just what this 

 program means the Bakersfield project will serve as a typical example. 

 Before these pens were built, we were never able to get more than 250 

 birds liberated in Kern County in any one season. The first season 

 the i)ens were operated 749 birds were released. The second year 

 saw 1184 birds released and the next season this number was increased 

 to 1876. 



These pens are constructed according to plans and specifications 

 furnished by the game farms and paid for by the local sportsmen's 

 organization. A caretaker for the project is also furnished by the 

 local grouj). The feeding program is carried out under the sujiervision 

 of the game farms so that the birds after leaving the farms have the 

 same ty])e of feed that they had at the farms. Birds for these grou])s 

 of hohling pens are hatched and brooded at the farms until they are 

 old enough to get along without artificial heat. At that time they are 

 taken by 1imu'1\ or train to the sevei-al holding pen units w^here they are 

 kept until old enough to be released into "closed areas." The average 

 time of this brooding period is about 30 days, and the average time 

 that the birds spend in the holding pen, before being released, is about 

 40 days. At that time the birds are old enough to make their own way 

 and lake care of themselves in the open. 



It is not logical to suppose that birds may be reared on our game 

 farms and released for immediate shooting. A program of that sort 

 wonid not do and would fall of its own weight. Artificially reared 

 hii-ds shouhl he rch'ascd into "closed areas" where they are protected 

 and allowed to increase according to their own inclinations. When 

 these closed areas are stocked sufficiently, the overflow will provide 

 ample shooting for the hunters in adjoining territory and the supply 

 of game will be uniform each year. 



The general program, then, of oui- game farms is artificially pro- 

 duced birds, reared in holding pens, and released into closed areas for 

 further increase and stocking of the adjoining territory. This program 

 lias enabled the game farms to turn out more and better birds at 



