Vol. 22 , No. I 
Page 2 
Re sponses ^ Prajj-je Chickens to Habitat Manipulation 
R- L. Westemeier, 
0 . R. Vance 
tin»thy/bro m e' ( o! ) p?airie t grass 5 ta?nlv a s ■'? 9 raSSi f nds dominated by redtop, 
52 - 6 , 49 . 0 , and 33-3 per«n??res^uX' " est =e«ess was 53.?,’ 
nests per 10 acres, the rankinq was brorrWi J standpoint of hatched 
and prairie grass (0.4). * ' timothy (0-8), redtop (0-7), 
TO re tt» V l Ua ^^^”“ U r.1u~* t, ^ b r r : d r,, r'« ch 'ckens should consider 
may be different than the field dominant I™" 1 = over « a nest site 
a redtop, timothy, brome, or prairie grass f ie 1 d 3 ‘ r '* chicken nests found in 
was composed of 100 percent of the li,i/j d ' the cover at the nest site 
percent of the nests ?h2 cSwf !t ft R f'™"' " a " avera 9 a °f only 10 4 
field dominant mixed with other species P <)ne thi?d 'f 6 ? eStS WaS primari| y the 
y cover dominated by species other than the field dominant?* 51 * W * re concea,ed 
The cover at nest- t |. Dc 
dominant or primarily the f ieT^domi’™??'^??' '° 0 percent of the field 
fields, 77-2 percent of 136 nests in aLthJ^Z T 1 ° f 39 nests in brome 
m prairie grass fields, and 58.4 percent £f lit ’ 63 l 7 percent of 44 nests 
redtop showed the lowest fidelity P | e „i?V 2 nests ln redtop fields. Thus, 
dominated at 41.6 percent of the^etuf^H t . Spec ' es °ther than redtop pre- ' 
most frequently associated with nests in redtn? fields ' °ther plants 
dewberry, yarrow, goldenrod, horse nettle ^2/ ?* mc,uded timothy, 
plant species. Brome showed the hiqhes! fidtrr 3 S ?? er extent ’ 34 other 
the nests in brome fields were concealed ly bronl^ * bUt ' 5 ' 4 percent of 
is h igh*! n°redtop? n p ra i rte^chtckerMiens^ave^sho ' S th3t a ' th ° U9h " 6St 5PC « 5S 
diversity in redtop fields than in field? I h a 9 reater preference for 
Prairie grasses. thus, „e ???? u d? t d ° m : nated b V timothy, brome, or 
clover, and Korean lespedeza) in new redtoo^fed 691 ™ 65 ^ rSd clover ’ alsike 
redtop sufficiently dominant in the re u „ d '" 95 ’ but we at tempt to have 
»■;; aaU Xtri- 3 t? e £ d 
years of ase ' plowin9 ' -» so4ein^ e a r?ei:x s :?: eje; 10 
and good^eed^res?stance^wTth^mtn imunTmainte° ^ ^ fidelity, 
consideration to the use of brome on the WS ar ® 9 ' vin 9 greater 
relatively permanent sods are desired h*» nctu aries. | n fields where 
bination of prairie grass and brnmP d because of erosion problems, a com- 
brome in new prairie seedings and mal^ ThuS ' WS are incl «Jding 
with established prairie qrasses h\ ^ om ? attefT1 Pts to add brome to fields 
or by light disking and overseeding bromine? haying 3 prescrlbed b “ r n 
