Supplemental Feeding to Increase Wild Turkey Productivity

Supplemental Feeding to Increase Wild Turkey Productivity Author(s): Oliver H. Pattee and Samuel L. Beasom Source: The Journal of Wildlife Management , Apr., 1979 , Vol. 43, No. 2 (Apr., 1979), pp. 512-516 Published by: Wiley on behalf of the Wildlife Society Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3800363 JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at https://about.jstor.org/terms Wiley and Wildlife Society are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Journal of Wildlife Management This content downloaded from � � � � � � � � � � � � 98.180.7.105 on Thu, 05 Oct 2023 20:32:17 +00:00�� All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 512 SHORT COMMUNICATIONS SUPPLEMENTAL FEEDING TO INCREASE WILD TURKEY PRODUCTIVITY Reproductive success of the wild tur- key (Meleagris gallopavo intermedia) in Texas has fluctuated drastically from year to year. Beasom (1973) found that turkey production in South Texas was positively correlated with years of abundant rain- fall, and that years of subnormal rainfall (especially during fall) were character- ized by low net productivity. He found that a high proportion of hens failed to evidence normal gonadal development during drought years. This apparent dis- ruption of the annual gonad cycle may result from low rainfall and a resulting reduction in quantity and quality of food. Beck and Beck (1955) suggested that supplemental feeding to correct nutri- tional deficiencies in the diet of turkeys of South Texas might prove useful. Arner (1954) indicated that fall food plantings would be beneficial to turkeys by provid- ing a source of greens early in the year. Supplemental feeding to increase pro- ductivity in wild game birds has received little attention. In west-central Texas, turkey hens that had been fed in January and February laid earlier and had larger clutches (Anon. 1945). Breitenbach et al. (1963) found that limiting the food intake of ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus col- chicus) hens resulted in smaller clutches, later onset of laying, and earlier termi- nation of laying. This study evaluated the effectiveness of artificial feeding in late winter and ear- ly spring as a wildlife management tool to enhance productivity of wild turkeys. STUDY AREA Two areas (Muertos and Venada) of ap- proximately 5,000 ha, separated by a buff- er zone 1.6-2.4 km wide, were selected on the Encino Division of the King Ranch in Brooks and Kenedy counties, Texas. The area has an elevation of 12- 19 m, with flat to gently rolling terrain and no natural drainages. The soil is a deep Nueces sand (Carter 1931). Approx- imately 50% of the area is covered with mottes of live oak (Quercus virginiana) and the remainder is open grassland dominated by thin paspalum (Paspalum setaceum), fringed signalgrass (Brachiar- ia ciliatissima), three awn (Aristida spp.), and coast sandbur (Cenchrus incertus). Small, scattered stands of mesquite (Pro- sopis glandulosa) occur throughout the area. METHODS Fieldwork was conducted from Janu- ary through August 1974-76. Indices of turkey abundance on the 2 study areas were obtained from observations made along permanent road transects approxi- mately 47 km long on each area in the morning (dawn to 0900) and evening (1800 to dusk). Transects were traveled 3 or 4 times within a 1-week period in June, July, and August for a total of 9 in 1974, 11 in 1975, and 11 in 1976. Sex of all adult turkeys seen was recorded and age of all poults was estimated to the nearest week using plumage develop- ment characters described by Nixon (1962). Numbers of turkeys on the areas were compared by indices of productivity such as poults/100 hens, average brood size, and percent hens with poults. These or similar indices had been used by De- Arment (1959) and Beasom (1970). Back- dating of estimated ages of poults was used to compare hatching dates of poults on the areas. A commercial pelleted turkey breeder J. Wildl. Manage. 43(2):1979 This content downloaded from � � � � � � � � � � � � 98.180.7.105 on Thu, 05 Oct 2023 20:32:17 +00:00�� All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 513 5 1974 UNTREATED M:.:: V TREATED 0 1975 U5 4 00- OMM M M 6- 1976 i 5- LLA .2 M0V 0? APRIL MAY MAY JUNE JUNE JUNE JULY 20 4 18 1 15 29 13 Fig. 1. Estimated hatc (M) and Venada (V) stu 0 * : : 0 0 0 0 0 0 El 0 0 0 00 0 ???10 0 4, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0o 00o -0 0 0 .1 0-00- 0 0 ???o - o o ??? o o ?? 0U.? ? ? 6-?? ~ 1976 ? 401? ? ? ??? ? ?? .?1 ??+I 0 0 ?r?? ??, I ,???l?o o0? *Go- 2----000*0 0 11 11 APIL MY A JUN JN JN JL 204 s1 5291 Fi.1 siae acigitrasofosre ol rus1 (M n eaa()suyaeso heEcn iiino h ig ration (17.5% protein, 0.75% phosphorus) was s plemental feeding. Gree dicated that pen-raised w vived and reproduced well on feed intended to meet domestic turkey re- quirements. Pretreatment data were collected in 1974 to identify interarea differences in the turkey populations or their reproduc- J. Wildl. Manage. 43(2):1979 This content downloaded from � � � � � � � � � � � � 98.180.7.105 on Thu, 05 Oct 2023 20:32:17 +00:00�� All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 514 SHORT COMMUNICATIONS Table 1. Turkeys observed along road transects in June, July, and August 1974-76, Muertos and Venada st Encino Division of the King Ranch, Inc., Brooks and Kenedy counties, Texas. Turkeys observed Individual Poults/ % hens Average Year Treatment-area Hens Poults broods 100 hens with poults brood size Pretreatment-Muertos 186 41 11 22.0 5.9 3.7 Pretreatment-Venada 186 45 10 24.2 5.4 4.5 Treated-Muertos 158 65 14 41.1 8.9 4.6 Untreated-Venada 188 22 5 11.7 2.7 4.4 Treated-Venada 250 220 51 88.0 20.4 4.3 Untreated-Muertos 228 52 14 22.8 6.1 3.7 tive success. Feeding began 7 February 1975 and 1 February 1976, and continue for 100 days in both years. A total of 45. kg of feed per day was scattered at 10-15 selected sites on the treated area. Treated and untreated areas were switched in 1976 to minimize effects of undetected differences between areas. Sites chosen for feeding were areas of natural turkey concentration, similar to those reported by Thomas et al. (1973). In January 1975 and 1976, 104 and 132 turkey hens, respectively, were trapped using drop nets (Glazener et al. 1964). These birds were tagged with color-cod- ed 5 x 10-cm Saflag patagium tags on each wing (Knowlton et al. 1964) to as- certain the extent of movement of hens between areas. Sightings of marked hens were noted during all activities within and near the study area. RESULTS Turkeys readily accepted the commer- cial ration and were frequently observed eating the feed. An estimated 150-200 hens utilized the supplemental feed. Pretreatment censuses indicated simi- lar numbers of turkeys, nesting success, and poult production (22.0 and 24.2 poults/100 hens) on each of the 2 study areas in 1974 (Table 1). Approximately 270% more poults were produced on the treated than on the untreated area in 1975 and 1976 (P < 0.01). Treated areas had approximately 230% more hens with poults than untreated areas had in both years. Average brood size varied be- tween years, but was consistently higher (P > 0.05) on the treated areas (Table 1). Estimated hatching dates indicated that timing of hatching (mid-May) in both areas was similar during pretreatment, whereas hatching peaks were dissimilar after treatment (Fig. 1). Data from 1975 (10 broods) and 1976 (18 broods) re- vealed that poults appeared to hatch ear- lier and over a longer time period on the treated areas. No poults hatched after June 15 on the untreated areas but broods that hatched as late as July 13 were ob- served on the treated areas. Two hundred marked hens were sight- ed 1 or more times following capture (821 observations). In 1976, hens were ob- served up to 16 km from where they were trapped in 1975, but only 2 marked hens were observed to have moved between areas during January through August. Both cases involved movement from the treated to the untreated area. No other interarea movements were observed, al- though several marked birds were ob- served off the study area. DISCUSSION Effects of supplemental feeding on the size of the turkey population was not de- J. Wildl. Manage. 43(2):1979 This content downloaded from � � � � � � � � � � � � 98.180.7.105 on Thu, 05 Oct 2023 20:32:17 +00:00�� All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 515 termined, but this management practice may increase the "annual surplus." Al- though no evidence was found in this study to indicate that turkey populations increased due to feeding, population in- creases in quail have been reported from other studies. Frye (1954) found that ar- tificial feeding of bobwhite quail (Coli- nus virginianus) in Florida had increased the population by 65% after the 1st year and by 180% after the 2nd year. In Cali- fornia, Glading et al. (1945) found that feeding and predator control dramatically increased valley quail (Lophortyx cali- fornicus) populations. They felt, how- ever, that predator control was the most important factor contributing to the in- crease and that feeding maintained the high population. The apparent increased production of turkey poults on the treated areas evi- dently was due to more hens laying, ear- lier initiation of laying, and later termi- nation of laying attempts. The differences in the number of poults between treated and untreated areas was apparently relat- ed to a greater number of hens producing poults on the treated area. Poult survival and clutch size were apparently unaf- fected by the supplemental feeding. De- spite the apparent success of this pro- gram, other factors undoubtedly affect reproductive success. Although nutrition is important, other factors such as pre- dation, adverse weather, and availability of nesting cover also serve to promote or suppress poult production (Beasom 1973). Nevertheless, supplemental feeding may hold promise as a management technique in areas of high-intensity management due to its success in increasing the num- ber of hens producing young. Acknowledgments.-This is Texas Ag- ricultural Experiment Station paper TA 13202. We wish to acknowledge M. Springer, B. Morrill, S. Smith, B. Baker, S. Marsh, K. Frazier, K. Cearley, and B. Vadney who assisted with the trapping. Special thanks go to B. Cain who con- tributed to the design and implementa- tion of this study, and along with N. Silvy and W. Kiel, Jr., critically reviewed the manuscript. The cooperation and help of W. Kiel, D. Stiles, and B. and P. McBride of the King Ranch, Inc., made this study possible. This project was sup- ported by a grant from the Caesar Kle- berg Research Program in Wildlife Ecol- ogy through the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station. LITERATURE CITED ANONYMOUS. 1945. Principal game birds and mammals of Texas. Tex. Game Fish Oyster Comm., Austin. 149pp. ARNER, D. H. 1954. The wild turkey in Maryland, its ecology and management. Md. Conserv. 31:3-8. BEASOM, S. L. 1970. Turkey productivity in two vegetative communities in South Texas. J. Wildl. Manage. 34:166-175. . 1973. Ecology of wild turkey productivity in South Texas. Ph.D. Dissertation. Texas A&M Univ., College Station. 215pp. BECK, J. R., AND D. O. BECK. 1955. A method for nutritional evaluation of wildlife foods. J. Wildl. Manage. 19:198-205. BREITENBACH, R. P., C. L. NAGRA, AND R. K. MEY- ER. 1963. Effect of limited food intake on cy- clic annual changes in ring-necked pheasant hens. J. Wildl. Manage. 27:24-36. CARTER, W. T. 1931. The soils of Texas. Tex. Agric. Exp. Stn. Bull. 431 192pp. DEARMENT, R. 1959. Turkey hen-poult ratios as an index to reproductive trends. Proc. First Natl. Wild Turkey Symp. 1:27-31. FRYE, O. E., JR. 1954. Studies of automatic quail feeder in Florida. Trans. North Am. Wildl. Nat. Resour. Conf. 19:298-316. GLADING, B., D. M. SELLECK, AND F. T. Ross. 1945. Valley quail under private management at the Dune Lakes Club. Calif. Fish Game 31:167-184. GLAZENER, W. C., A. S. JACKSON, AND M. L. Cox. 1964. The Texas dropnet turkey trap. J. Wildl. Manage. 28:280-287. GREENBURG, D. B. 1949. Raising game birds in captivity. D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc., New York. 224pp. KNOWLTON, F. F., E. D. MICHAEL, AND W. C. GLA- ZENER. 1964. A marking technique for field J. Wildl. Manage. 43(2):1979 This content downloaded from � � � � � � � � � � � � 98.180.7.105 on Thu, 05 Oct 2023 20:32:17 +00:00�� All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 516 SHORT COMMUNICATIONS recognition of individual turkeys and deer. J. Wildl. Manage. 28:167-170. NIXON, C. M. 1962. Wild turkey aging. Ohio Dep. Nat. Resour. Game Res. in Ohio. 1:107-117. THOMAS, J. W., R. G. MARBURGER, AND C. VAN HOOZER. 1973. Rio Grande turkey migrations as related to harvest regulation in Texas. Pages 301-308 in G. G. Sanderson and H. C. Schultz, eds. Wild turkey management: current prob- lems and programs. Univ. Mo. Press. Columbia. 355pp. Oliver H. Pattee' and Samuel L. Bea- som,2 Department of Wildlife and Fish- eries Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843. Received 30 September 1977. Accepted 2 October 1978. I Present address: Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD 20811. 2 Present address: New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, State Capitol Santa Fe, NM 87503. BOBWHITE QUAIL FOODS IN POCOSIN HABITAT CONVERTED TO PINE A 6.48 million-ha band of poorly drained forest land exists along the Low- er Coastal Plain of the Southeast (Schlaudt 1955). Within this wet flatwoods region are assemblages of plant communities generally known as pocosins. The Coast- al Plain of North Carolina alone includes 0.92 million ha. Presently, much of the pocosin habitat is owned by agricultural concerns and industrial timber compa- nies. The goal of these companies is to produce cash crops of food or timber. In the past, these operations have been es- sentially monocultures, but the emphasis now has shifted toward a multiple use concept. Attention is being directed toward de- termining effects of large-scale habitat manipulations on the wildlife in this unique ecosystem (Sossaman 1973, Ha- zel et al. 1978). The conversion of poco- sins to pine plantations results in a tem- porary enhancement of bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) habitat through creation of edge and an increase in herbaceous plants. Quail populations estimated to be in excess of 2 birds/ha have been ob- served during the 1st few years following conversion. As canopy closure occurs, the quail population may decline as much as 90%, although numbers remain relatively stable along ditches, windrows, and road- sides (personal communication, S. T. Cherry, Weyerhaeuser Wildlife Special- ist, New Bern, North Carolina). The de- velopment of several million ha of poco- sin habitat in the mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain, therefore, offers considerable po- tential for bobwhite management. Although diets of bobwhite have been studied throughout the range of the species (Rosene 1969), data were lacking concerning foods in pocosin areas. Our study was conducted on quail taken in pocosins managed for short rotation pine production. STUDY AREA The study area covers 21,000 ha of flat, low-lying terrain in Craven County, North Carolina. It is included in an in- terrupted zone of wet upland bogs which extend along the Atlantic Coastal Plain from Virginia to Georgia (Teate 1967:1). These bogs are commonly known as po- cosins, a word which arose from the Al- gonquin Indian language meaning "a small but deep pond or bog" (Peattie J. Wildl. Manage. 43(2):1979 This content downloaded from � � � � � � � � � � � � 98.180.7.105 on Thu, 05 Oct 2023 20:32:17 +00:00�� All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms