Factors affecting captive prairie chicken production /
Due to the endangered status of the Attwater's prairie film Inc. chicken (APC; Tympanuchus cupids attwateri), captive propagation became paramount in the early 1990s, and additional information was needed in order to increase captive Attwater's production numbers. To achieve this objective...
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| Format: | Thesis Book |
| Language: | English |
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[Place of publication not identified] :
[publisher not identified] ;
1998.
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://proxy.library.tamu.edu/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=733050221&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=2945&RQT=309&VName=PQD |
| Summary: | Due to the endangered status of the Attwater's prairie film Inc. chicken (APC; Tympanuchus cupids attwateri), captive propagation became paramount in the early 1990s, and additional information was needed in order to increase captive Attwater's production numbers. To achieve this objective, research was conducted on both APC and greater prairie chickens (GPC; Z c. pinnatus) from 1994-98. The specific objectives evaluated for captive prairie chickens were: (1) captive propagation techniques; (2) long-term elects of, and potential vectors for. reticuloendothelial virus (REV) (3) the use of photoperiod manipulation and hybridization', (4) physiological impacts of short-term feed and water deprivation', and, (5) daily insect biomass requirements for chicks. Captive propagation of prairie chickens was logistically difficult and expensive. Pens should be designed in a way that provides the least amount of disturbance to birds during maintenance. The use of a pelleted commercial pheasant feed proved most elective, and it is recommended that birds be reared on mowed grass interspersed with a few taller vegetation clumps forcover. Birds should be placed into breeding pens no later than December. REV, a retrofits, was apparently both horizontally and vertically transmitted to captive prairie chickens. Furthermore, I found that a mosquito (Culex salinarius) can harbor the virus for up to 24 hours after feeding on an infected bird, butt the virus was undetectable at 48 hours post-feeding. These findings suggested that Culex salinarius was a possible mechanical vector for REV, but it was probably not a biological vector. Once the captive facility was infected with REV, a system of culling and isolation appeared to contain the disease and allowed for continued production of offspring. There were 43 prairie chicken deaths from REV during this study. Photoperiod manipulation and hybridization both proved to be viable options as alternative techniques to increase captive prairie chicken numbers. Once placed in outdoor pens, hybrid hens produced by breeding APC to GPC more closely coincided with APC breeding activity. Short-term deprivation of pelleted feed and water affected blood chemistry and weight loss of GPC. Results indicated that starvation had the greates teffect, whereas dehydration was not a factor as long as birds had access to vegetation. Insects were believed to be a limiting factor for prairie chicken chicks. Insect feeding experiments indicated that growing chicks needed at least 8.95 g of insect biomass daily, and converted, on average, 21% of this biomass into body weight. |
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| Item Description: | Vita. "Major Subject: Wilflife and Fisheries Sciences". |
| Physical Description: | xii, 99 leaves : illustrations ; 28 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (leaves 86-89). |