fence building

Nesting season is here! After weeks of listening to males boom and display, the females have made their choice and have copulated with the dominant males. Starting last week the first of the females have started building nests and laying eggs. It is our job now to start constructing predator proof fencing around the nest sites. Using telemetry the bird interns determine if the females have started incubating eggs. Dr. Mike Morrow, the senior biologist uses a handheld antenna (that he waves around and listens to strength of the beeps) to pinpoint these nests sites. Females usually prefer to nest in tall grassy areas, usually flattening the nearby grass to lay their eggs on. They become virtually invisible when sitting on their eggs. We bring rolls of chicken wire, rebar, zip ties and stakes to construct a square perimeter around the female and her egg clutch. I have cuts and scrapes from carrying the wire mesh and rebar and have destroyed several shirts and pairs of pants. So far we've built 3 fences. The ground has been rock hard due to the lack of rain and the clay soil, staking the bottom of the fences has been nearly impossible. It takes us about an hour and a half to construct 1 fenced area. Its been exhausting but it is worth it, Mike says that the fences has increased the hatching percentage and survival rate of prairie chicks by more than 90%, (historically this number has been around 30% without the fences). The fences deter coyotes, snakes and egg eaters such as possums, skunks and raccoons from interfering with the hens and her young chicks. It is still the beginning of nesting season and there are expected to be about 20+ more nesting females and fences to be built.

The bottom of the mesh fence is staked down at 1ft intervals to ensure that there are no gaps at the bottoms for snakes and critters to sneak in. After a couple of days, when the hens are used to flying over fence, the rebar and fence are stood upright from a 45 degree to a 90 degree angle and the top of the fence is bent down to prevent snakes from climbing over.