Chukar Partridge

[Tony K T]

I am very surprised that the chukars tolerate any other breed of birds in their pen.Keep an eye on them!
In N.H.Tony.
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[aprophet]

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I know a fellow who keeps pigeons and chukar together I have been meaning to check back in and see how that project went.

 

[J3172]

Tony,
I don't have them mixed at this current time, it was from last year. They did fine with the valley, and bobwhites, I had some extra eggs, so I ended up brooding mexican spec. ten. red, vally and chuckers together and they did fine. But then I decided that I don't really like chuckers, because plan A. they drop like flies if you keep them on the ground, B. they were always fighting, C.taste really good.

 

[ranit]

I was surprised when reading how many people talk about how agressive they are. I guess I was just real lucky when I had them. They were never "friendly" but I never had a problem with them picking on each other or the ornamental pheasants I had them in with. I didn't have very good luck with them on the ground with our rainy spring weather (seemed to be when I would lose several), but I do have one lonely male who is still in with the pheasants and is now 4 years old which I think is amazing. I had much better luck with those I kept on wire and would definately go this route if I were to raise them again. I had a pair of albino ones also and would love to have some of them, but then again, my husband and I keep saying we need to downsize on the animals.

 

[BillSF9c]

I'd be interested to hear why they "drop like flies" if kept on the ground? I am familiar with them in the wild. They sure hated to fly, but once chased to the top of a mountain, the whole covey would scream down it 4 ft off the deck, across a valley, and half way up the adjoining mountain. I'd think a larger run, where they CAN run, would be appropriate. I adored the meat, to include much larger legs than quail, appropriate to their much larger size. Lotta sage where I hunted them.
BillSF9c

 

[coonslayer]

Can you raise them on the ground in Florida? Could you put some clay, pine straw, etc. On the ground

 

[Deadcreek]

Coonslayer,
Some people do, but I bought ten in the fall of 2010. Eventually, I lost every one of them. In the meantime, I hatched 18 off the original ten, put them in a wire floored pen, and haven't lost the first one. I'm not in florida, but close. Conditions in 'Bama aren't much different.

 

[coonslayer]

Deadcreek,
Thank you.
Will they nest on wire, in a crate or something if allowed?

 

[Deadcreek]

Well, if you want to call it nesting. LOL I think they'll just lay an egg wherever they happened to be at the time. I don't think they'll set eggs though, not in a wire pen.

 

[BillSF9c]

In nature, they would have a small hollow under a bush, perhaps lined with a little bit of dried grass, etc. You might expect that, as in a chicken coop, they would want some shelter, privacy, and perhaps straw or such, as opposed to bare wire. With many animals kept "on wire," the hole size is important to the health of their feet. I suspect 3/8" hardware cloth would be a maximum, and perhaps even too large. As with chickens and quail, they will reach for something tastey overhead, but are by habit, ground scratchers. While chickens tend to prefer to roost, I am unsure what these or quail prefer. I knew them in Nevada where sagebrush was the only significant foliage. This is not like culinary sage, but 100 yr old bushes, that may be a typical 3 ft tall.
BillSF9c