Raising gamebirds for release on our acreage, choosing a species

[DuckBrat]

Ummmm, are there not laws against releasing non-native birds in Alberta? Although pheasants and huns are not native it would be wise to let the experts take care of the releasing. Too many folks around North America have ruined many an ecosystem with their backyard projects. Wild Boar, silver carp, English house sparrow, Starling....etc.

[kens]

I bought 7 pheasants from "wwbirds" this past march, 2 roosters and 5 hens. I released them, 3 females with 1 rooster and 2 females with the other rooster, about 1/4 mile apart on my farm with decent cover in both locations.

What a fascinating summer of pheasant watching, one of the males took up residence near our house and would come out every morning at dawn, about 20 ft from our bedroom window, to begin his daily crowing. The cocky little sob would walk through the garden, sit on the front step, march around the very large yars like he owned the place. From time to time the dog couldn't stand it anymore and would put the run on the rooster but he would just leg it to cover or fly a few feet if needed.

I was never able to determine for sure if both males survived, I think the "house rooster" had at least 3 of the females, one near the house where he over nighted for many weeks of the summer, another about 200 yards east of the house and another about 400 yards to the west.

Haven't seen or heard anything for weeks. I did see one young bird so at least 1 female hatched something. Maybe once crops are off we'll be able to see if there are any around, right now there is so much cover you wouldn't see them a few feet away.

I'll do it again next year!

[Ardent]

Originally Posted by DuckBrat

Ummmm, are there not laws against releasing non-native birds in Alberta? Although pheasants and huns are not native it would be wise to let the experts take care of the releasing. Too many folks around North America have ruined many an ecosystem with their backyard projects. Wild Boar, silver carp, English house sparrow, Starling....etc.

Both the government and private groups release pheasants, a non-native species as you've noted, so it can't be that hard to get permission for pheasant. They thrive in ecosystems that are already destroyed, like farmland, and have exhibited zero detrimental impact on the environment over the last century.

It's crazy it's easier to raise and release a non-native species than a native one, ruffed grouse, from a legal standpoint. But nothing government has a hand in makes sense.

[FCLightning]

Many things the gov't does make no sense, but this one makes perfect sense.
Currently there are very little regulations over the release of pheasant into the wild because there are no wild birds without a release program of some kind and they are not worried about survival, crossbreeding and introduction of disease to the existing populations - there aren't any. Same goes for chukar and quail. I would think that there might be some regulation on the Huns unless they are considering them the same as pheasant in that they are only here because of a release. There certainly are rules regarding the keeping of native game birds and their release into the wild because of the concern with them interbreeding and introducing disease to the native, wild populations. I doubt though that it has been much of a problem for the gov't to monitor because any of our native grouse species are nigh onto impossible to raise in captivity - or so I hear.
Reeves, is anyone raising ruffies that you know of? I was told by the biologist who used to work in Brooks (when it was gov't run) that they tried for years to raise prairie chicken and sharptail with zero success.

[jryley]

hey gents,

this is a topic that is new to me. Honestly I didnt even know you could legally raise game to release back into the environment. I have been tossing around the idea for a few years but didnt know if you legally could. Anyone have any thoughts and info for me on what turkeys would need to survivie? would they be able to manage through a winter in wmu 232? and would farmers suffer at all with these beasts being released? that would be pretty rad being able to hunt turkey out by my recreational stomping grounds!