News and Notes
from the
Ames Plantation
and the
National Field Trial Champion Association
September 7, 2005
This year begins the 4th year of our quail release program and
it was decided by Plantation staff to try an earlier season
release thus providing the quail with more cover and 6 weeks to
adjust to their new surroundings before grooming begins on the
courses for the field trial season ahead. The first week of
September was selected and today Sept. 7th - 3,200 quail were
released in coveys of 20 birds per covey at 160 different
locations on the Ames field trial courses from 6:00 a.m. to
11:00 a.m. Plantation staff released 80 coveys on each of the
morning and afternoon field trial courses. The quail this year
were 14 weeks of age when released, compared to 12 weeks of age
when released during the 3 previous years. These birds were
vaccinated for Avian Pox when they were 5 weeks of age compared
to 12 weeks of age in our previous releases. In the past, our
pre-release program occurred around the first week of October,
which did not allow much time for the quail to adjust to the
wild before cover removal began, thus increasing their
susceptibility to predation. Hopefully this change will be
beneficial to their overall survival and assist them in learning
to fly better and more often.
The same basic release procedure was used this year as in the
past, which included spreading grain sorghum throughout all of
the feed plots on the entire field trial course. Piles of grain
sorghum seed, 2 feet in diameter and 2 inches thick plus a
1-gallon watering device was placed at each release site for the
box of 20 quail. All of the boxes used to carry the birds to
each release site were retrieved before dark thus removing the
concentrated scent of the quail at each site. Survival this year
will be harder to determine since we will not have
radio-telemetry collars on the quail and the technicians will
not be harassing the quail on a regular basis.
Our first trial will be the AFTCA’s, Amateur Quail Championship
beginning December 5, 2005. The Ames Amateur will follow on
January 2, 2006 with the Hobart Ames Memorial beginning the
following week on January 9th. The drawing for the National
Championship will be February 11th and running will begin
Monday, February 13th. The Ames Plantation sincerely appreciates
all of the support of the field trial community in making us one
of the premier sites for all-age competition.
August 27, 2005
Additional improvements have been made on the National
Championship field trial courses during 2005. Several roads and
crossings which presented problems when wet were improved. A new
containment basin was constructed near the Mary Scott basin on
the morning field trial course and a new lane for the field
trial course running from the Dairy Pasture to Turkey bottom was
established.
Grain sorghum and Egyptian wheat were planted in over 250 feed
plots on both field trial courses this spring. These 250 feed
plots encompass over 125 acres of land. A few of last year’s
feed plots were replanted but most of this year’s plots were
new. A majority of last year’s plots were left for nesting this
year. The Egyptian wheat has done very well, but since some of
our grain sorghum seed was marginal we had to replant a number
of those plots in order to achieve an adequate stand. In those
areas where a poor stand of grain sorghum still exists, an
abundant amount of ragweed has invaded the plots. If we had to
have something, at least it was ragweed. That should make the
quail very happy.
Grain sorghum has been fed along the field roads of the field
trial courses every two weeks from June through August,
otherwise it was fed weekly along the field roads during the
nesting season or along the feed plots before nesting or
beginning in September. All of the field roads and most of the
centerline of the field trial courses have been bush hogged this
summer. Rain early in the spring has provided adequate cover,
but the lack of rain in June, July and August has most of the
field crops and feed plots under extreme drought stress now.
Ames
Plantation staff converted the newest of the three swine
finishing barns into a quail raising facility. Six brooder rooms
capable of housing 3,500 chicks each were built inside the barn
and four 150-foot and one 75-foot flight-pens were added to the
outside of the barn. A total of 14,000 quail were raised in this
new facility this year. Ames will again conduct a pre-release
program and distribute 3,200 quail (160 coveys of 20
birds/covey, 80 coveys/course) beginning September 7th. These
birds will be 14-weeks of age when released. This release is a
month earlier than we have been releasing over the last three
years, but we felt like ample cover would enable these quail to
adjust to their new surroundings quicker. Cover removal will
begin on the courses about October 1st.
Our first field trial for this season will begin December 5,
2005, when we will host the Amateur Quail Championship. This is
the first time for this event to be held on Plantation grounds.
The Ames Amateur will begin January 2, 2006 and the Hobart Ames
Memorial will begin January 9, 2006. The National Championship
will begin with the drawing on February 11th and the running
will begin February 13, 2006.
Press Release, January 23, 2004
On September 30, 2003, Ames Plantation staff released quail on
the National Championship field trial courses for the second
year in a row, evaluating how the released birds interact with
the native population and those released birds that survived
from the 2002 release. This year’s weather was a stark contrast
to last year’s flood. Dry, warm temperatures had the released
birds out in the fields and field roads where the predators
found easy prey.
A total of 3,200, 13-week-old, flight conditioned, pen-raised
quail from Clear Creek Farms, Lamar, Mississippi, were released
in 160 different locations with 20 birds per covey. Feathers for
DNA profile analysis were taken from 989 birds. All of the
released quail were vaccinated for avian pox and received a
unique numbered blue leg band in contrast to the red leg band
used in the 2002 release. There were 217 fitted with radio
telemetry collars. The pen-raised quail were released into
existing feeds plots or other cover, like bicolor lespedeza, on
both the morning and afternoon courses that had supported wild
quail during the last 20 years. Additional feed and water was
provided at each of the 80 sites on both courses.
The same weekly feeding schedule established last year utilizing
a 4-wheel drive tractor and a large towed feed wagon capable of
distributing a 40 foot swath of grain sorghum in, and near, the
feed plots of Egyptian wheat and grain sorghum or soybeans was
used again this year. Timing and duration of rainfall during the
growing season yielded one of the best row crop year’s in recent
history. It also provided tall and thick cover for all of the
quail thus aiding in the protection of the birds that used it.
The released quail were given 4 weeks to adjust to their new
surroundings before we started flushing them in an effort to
make them as wild as possible. The released birds this year were
flying better at the time of release than the birds released
last year were flying during the National Championship.
Mortality of the radio-collared released birds was much higher
this year, 51% at the end of the first 30 days, compared to 26%
last year. Survival on December 31, 2003, was 33% compared to
51% at the end of 2002. Survival for the beginning of the
National this year is expected to be approximately 20% compared
to 41% last year. Presence of a large number of avian raptors in
the Fall 2003, would explain the higher death loss as compared
to Fall 2002 when the migrating raptor population moved further
south for the winter.
Much appreciation is extended to Waldo E. Dodge, Dr. Frank
McKnight, Rube Rhea, Maxxon Floor Company, the IAMS Company and
many others for their financial support of this research
project. “Thanks” are also extended to The Huffman’s for their
volunteer work in helping to vaccinate and band a large portion
of the birds. We would like to express our sincere appreciation
to Chuck Bolton and the Clear Creek Farms staff, especially Wade
Griffin and his family, for their extraordinary cooperativeness
and willingness to accommodate the research efforts on the Ames
Plantation and the National Field Trial Champion Association,
Inc.
October 10, 2002
On October 1, 2002, Ames Plantation staff released quail on the
National Championship field trial courses for the first time in
27 years. Severe weather resulting from Hurricane Isidore
required several changes to the original protocols. Adjustments
were made and the pre-release quail research experiment on Ames
Plantation was initiated.
A total of 3,200, 12- week-old, flight conditioned, pen-raised
quail from Clear Creek Farms, Lamar, Mississippi, were released
in 160 different locations with 20 birds per covey. Feathers for
DNA profile samples were taken from 910 of these birds. All of
the released quail were vaccinated for avian pox and received a
unique numbered leg band. Over 190 were fitted with radio
telemetry collars. The pen-raised quail were released into
existing feeds plots or other cover, like bicolor lespedeza, on
both the morning and afternoon courses that had supported wild
quail during the last 20 years. Additional feed and water was
provided at each of the 80 sites on both courses.
A weekly feeding schedule has been established utilizing a
4-wheel drive tractor and a large towed feed wagon capable of
distributing a 40 foot swath of grain sorghum in, and near, the
feed plots of Egyptian wheat and grain sorghum or soybeans.
Rainfall from the wettest August and September on record has
provided cover that is extremely thick and tall. This should
provide additional overhead cover for the released birds. The
released quail will be given 3 weeks to adjust to their new
surroundings before we start flushing them in an effort to make
them as wild as possible.
Much appreciation is extended to Waldo Dodge, Frank McKnight,
Rube Rhea, Maxxon Floor Company and the IAMS Company for their
financial support of this research project. "Thanks" are also
extended to Dr. Jack Huffman and Larry for their volunteer work
in helping to vaccinate and band a large portion of the birds.
We would like to express our sincere appreciation to Chuck
Bolton and the Clear Creek Farms staff, especially Wade Griffin
and his family, for their extraordinary cooperativeness and willingness
to accommodate the research efforts on the Ames Plantation.