James C. Helfrich Wildlife Propagation Center hosts free chick day on Earth Day

[April 29, 2023]   Have you ever wondered what goes on at the James C. Helfrich Wildlife Propagation Center just outside of Lincoln? Well, on Saturday if you were one of the brave few that went out in the nasty cold, snowy weather, you had the chance to find out, and leave with a living example of the work that is done there.

The propagation center was giving away day-old pheasant chicks on Saturday to anyone who wanted to stop by and pick one. When asked what one would do with a chick once they had it, Bryan Smith at the center said that people do pick them up as a pet when they are small and then will later turn them out into the wild when they are too big to keep.

He said folks are also interested in the female chicks for the eggs.

While those may be reasons for local folk to take advantage of the free chicks, the real purpose of the center is to provide wild pheasant chicks that will go to another location to grow up and will then later be released into the wild in specific areas that are part of the state hunting program.

Smith was happy to share the work that is done in Lincoln, starting with the eggs. In this case, there were several “barns” of hen and rooster pheasants that were not available for viewing. The tour therefore began in the sorting and cleaning room of the center.

Staff start out by daily collecting the eggs that are laid by the female or hen pheasants. He explained that eggs are collected, cleaned then placed in a cooling area. Smith said that chilling the eggs just a bit will assist staff in culling out the eggs that are damaged. He said once cooled, the eggs that have hairline cracks in them will show up better, and those eggs are not placed in the incubators.

Once eggs are selected for the incubators, the next step is to place them in those large warm lockers. Smith said there are thousands of eggs placed in the lockers where they will remain for 21 days.

The eggs are then moved into similar looking lockers for hatching. Opening those doors, one can see the eggs, eggs that are broken, and little chicks making their way out of the shells.

The chicks are then taken from the hatching lockers and placed in cardboard cartons and returned to yet another temperature-controlled locker until they are ready to face the world and be moved out to the brooding houses where they will grow up to adulthood.

Smith explained that the brooder houses are not nearby. There are two houses that take the Lincoln chicks. One in DesPlaines and the other in Mt. Vernon.

When the chicks are fully raised they will then be sent to state hunting programs including Jim Edgar Panther Creek and Sandridge State Parks.

In addition, he said that the birds that had been set aside for Saturday’s giveaway, if not all taken would be given to Kickapoo Creek Park here in Lincoln. He said the park has a small brooder house, where they can raise young birds to maturity then those birds are turned loose at the park.

Asked about the breed of pheasant, Smith said the chicks being raised are called Ring Neck and are somewhat typical for hunters. These chicks are descendants of a couple of other breeds including a Mongolian breed. The roosters used in Lincoln are descendants of the Mongolian pure breed which like the name implies comes from the country of Mongolia.

Smith said that the hens are descendants of a standard game farm breed.

The two breeds are mixed to help incorporate the best of both breeds into single birds. He said that the Mongolian birds have more of a wild nature than the game farm hens. The Mongolians are more prone to flight which means a better hunting experience. The game farm hens are not as wild, not as prone to flight, but they have a tendency to be larger, producing more edible meat.

The Propagation Center is considered to be part of the Madigan State Park, and Smith said he and the staff work both at the park and the hatchery. He explained how that came about.

In the beginning was Railsplitter Park and Helfrich Wildlife Propagation Center as two separate entities. When Railsplitter because Madigan, the state was having difficulty with manning both facilities. Merging the two, they combined staff duties and made staff responsible for both.

Consequently, during hatching times, it can be a bit hectic for staff taking care of both facilities, but they manage.

For those who may be wondering, the hens and roosters are not always inside buildings. Smith said the facility also has outdoor pens and in the summer guests can see the adult pheasants in the runs.

If you would like to visit the center, call ahead at [phone].

[Nila Smith]