THIRTY-EIGIITII BIENNIAL REPORT 27 



BUREAU OF GAME FARMS 



By August Bade, Chief 



There are two very good reasons for the decline of 12 per cent in 

 production and distribution of game birds for the biennium. 



(1) Labor was not only scarce, but the quality of what was 

 available was far below the level of ordinary years. In order to 

 carry on in a comparable way to former seasons, women and high 

 school students were employed as well as men well along in years. 



(2) Early in 1942 it became apparent that the supply of protein 

 would be cut about 50 per cent and that meant that all poultry and 

 stock feeds would be affected. Since game birds are insect eaters their 

 food, under domestic handling, must contain a high per cent of pro- 

 tein. With the lowering of the protein content of all commercial feeds, 

 plus the inexperience of available help, the problem of producing 

 game birds became involved. 



USE OF MODERN EQUIPMENT 



The introduction of more modern equipment such as the battery 

 brooder went a long way in compensating for the food and labor situa- 

 tion. For the past two years we had been working with the battery 

 brooder in an effort to utilize this type of equipment in the produc- 

 tion of game birds. The conditions imposed by the war, labor and 

 food, helped to make the development of the battery brooder an 

 actuality in the rearing of all upland game birds. 



Not only does the battery brooder multiply labor, but it increases 

 both production and the quality of the birds. And the use of the 

 battery does not mean that we are discarding the former radiant 

 type brooder that has been developed here in California and is now 

 used by many States, but it does mean that the battery supplements 

 the work of the older brooder and makes it even more efficient. With 

 the introduction of the battery brooder all radiant type brooders now in 

 use will be kept and their Avork merely increased and improved. 



THE REARING PEN PROGRAM 



Even under war conditions the rearing pen program continues 

 to meet with general approval and, while a few units quit for the 

 duration other new units of pens were built and operated. At the 

 beginning of the biennium we were serving 129 units and at the 

 close that number had increased to 140. These cooperative efforts 

 tend to increase interest in community affairs and lessen game law 

 violations. The rearing pen program is educational as well as pro- 

 ductive. 



A TRAINING SCHOOL FOR GAME BREEDERS 



The two-year course in game management at Humboldt State 

 College, Areata, continues, but the armed services requirements of 



