(Alectoris rufa) game farms in Spain
Contents
1. Until 1996 86 1 5 1 9 1 3 7 31 3 2 6 58 7 1997 a 2002 5 6 4 7 45 5 1 4 61 1 4 1 28 6 Since 2003 8 3 1 2 45 5 3 6 0 0 1 8 12 7 Size structure and management practices Complete cycle lt 0 001 100 0 4 0 9 1 7 5 100 0 2 0 84 1 Breeding pairs lt 0 001 None 0 0 4 0 90 9 7 5 0 0 2 0 15 9 1 to 999 80 6 5 2 0 0 3 8 25 0 2 5 52 4 1 000 onwards 19 4 2 4 9 1 1 8 75 0 4 3 31 7 Artificial photoperiod supplementation lt 0 001 63 9 1 0 0 0 44 4 87 5 2 7 58 7 Game species other than partridges Raises species other than partridges 0 706 30 6 0 7 18 2 0 7 25 0 0 2 27 0 Raises pheasants Phasianus colchicus 0 814 27 8 0 5 18 2 0 6 25 0 0 0 25 4 Raises quails Coturnix coturnix 0 707 11 1 0 8 18 2 0 4 18 8 0 6 14 3 Raises wild rabbits Oryctolagus cuniculus 0 381 2 8 1 3 9 1 0 4 12 5 1 2 6 3 Products other than partridges for release or restocking Sells hatching eggs lt 0 001 11 11 41 9 0 0 1 8 50 0 3 7 19 0 Sells one day old chicks 0 181 19 4 0 6 9 1 1 2 37 5 1 7 22 2 Sells decoy male partridges 0 591 72 2 0 2 63 6 0 8 81 3 0 9 73 0 Sells breeding partridges for other farms 0 554 16 7 0 2 9 1 0 8 25 0 0 9 17 5 Additional services offered Farm provides service for transporting partridges 0 114 83 3 0 6 72 7 1 4 100 0 1 9 85 7 Farm advice to clients on how to release and restocking 0 109 80 6 0 9 72 7 1 1 100 0 22. additional services offered by the farm f market geographic area and g farm advertising prac tices The variables included in the study are shown in Table 2 Selection of the variables for being included in the questionnaire was done on the basis of previous knowledge on the red legged partridge game farms sector Flores 1979 P rez y P rez 1981 Gonz lez Redondo 1999 2004 2005 Canning 2005 Statistical analysis After calculating correlations between variables a multivariate analysis was carried out to detect the fac tors that best characterise and typify the farms Since most of the variables were qualitative multiple corres pondence analysis MCA was performed on the set of variables in order to achieve dimension reduction The quantitative variables that were the number of bree ding pairs and the year of establishment of the farm were first transformed into three classes each one Table 2 The geographic location of the farm variable was recoded into four classes Table 2 Using the two dimensions yielded by the MCA four of the initial 21 variables were selected as they were both interesting for classification and discriminating farm typologies as well as representative of other non selected variables A hierarchical cluster analysis carried out by the method of Ward using the squared Euclidean distance classi fied the farms into three typologies clusters Analysis of the relationships among variables of
3. 0 84 1 Has an owned hunting preserve lt 0 001 19 4 3 2 18 2 1 4 87 5 4 9 36 5 Market geographic area Full country market s area 0 074 77 8 1 0 45 5 2 3 81 3 0 9 73 0 Exports partridges 0 018 19 4 1 9 18 2 0 8 56 3 2 8 28 6 Advertising practices Advertises its activity in the game press 0 153 66 7 0 0 45 5 1 6 81 3 1 4 66 7 Promotes itself at fairs 0 661 16 7 0 9 27 3 0 6 25 0 0 5 20 6 Advertises its activity on the internet 0 872 22 2 0 0 27 3 0 4 18 8 0 4 22 2 Has an owned web site 0 520 41 7 0 5 36 4 0 6 56 3 1 1 44 4 Standardised residuals strongly differentiating a cluster are emboldened 628 P Gonzalez Redondo et al Span J Agric Res 2010 83 624 633 Number of farms ow 0 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 Year of establishment Figure 1 Distribution of the red legged partridge game farms according to the year of their establishment Nature of the variables and their influence on differentiation farm types The MCA yielded two dimensions Table 3 whose eigenvalues were 1 803 for the first dimension and 1 437 for the second dimension Total variance explai ned by the solution was 81 45 1 by dimension 1 and 35 9 by dimension 2 The first dimension correspon ding to the abscissa included two variables 1 the farm sells hatching eggs and 11 the farm has an owned hunting preserve where releasing part of the partridges reared by the farm For bot
4. 2 this suggesting a homogeneous diffusion of the various productive models and farm types all over Spain The year of establishment Fig 1 discriminates farm types into three periods with livestock and game sectors contexts that differently influenced the deve lopment of farms Until 1996 were established the firsts farms medium sized and classified into farm type 1 Table 2 according to the complete cycle model developed starting from experiences carried out by Lara and Arenzana 1965 that laid the groundwork for the industrial breeding of this species in Spain Gonz lez Redondo 2004 High sized complete cycle farms established between 1997 and 2002 belonging to farm type 3 Table 2 were created mainly as a result of the huge extension activity carried out by many compa nies organizations and technicians during the first half of the Nineties Pag s and Garcia 1991 Gonzalez Redondo 2004 The establishment of red legged par tridge game farms gradually increased until 2002 declining thereafter Fig 1 and originating a different typology without breeding flock farm type 2 Table 2 This recent shift suggests that this alternative poultry production system could have reached its development maturity despite being only four decades old Gonz lez Redondo 2004 Recent and growing backlash against massive and indiscriminate use of farmed partridges in hunting preserves management due to problems ari sing from sanitary
5. an owned hunting preserve where releasing part of the partridges reared by the farm Characterisation and typification of the red legged partridge farms in Spain 629 The three farm types present the same distribution as a function of geographic location game species raised other than partridges and specifically phea sants Phasianus colchicus quails Coturnix co turnix and wild rabbits Oryctolagus cuniculus products sold other than hatching eggs one day old chicks decoy male partridges and breeding partridges for other farms additional services offered by the farm transportation of partridges and advice to customers market geographic area and advertising practices Table 2 All the farms sell partridges for release and restocking of hunting areas Discussion This study provides the first systematic characte risation and typification of the red legged partridge Spanish game farms according to the main variables related to their structure and marketing The classifi cation of structures methodology Borbouze 1995 widely and successfully used for the typification of other livestock sectors Castel et al 2003 Pardos et al 2008 Ruiz et al 2008 has been used because enables us to classify the farms on the basis of their si tuation structure and operation Borbouze 1995 The model fitted to typify the red legged partridge game farms according to their structure and marketing was satisfacto
6. correspondence analysis Characterisation and typification of the red legged partridge farms in Spain 625 Introduction The red legged partridge Alectoris rufa is a game species raised in farms in countries such as Spain France Portugal England and Italy Office National de la Chasse 1973 Gonz lez Redondo 2004 Canning 2005 In Spain its industrial breeding for hunting pur pose started in the middle of Sixties after successful experiences carried out at Quintos de Mora Toledo province experimental centre Lara and Arenzana 1965 These experiences led to the development of a game farms sector that quickly rose Flores 1979 Gonzalez Redondo 2004 The original model followed by most of these farms is the complete cycle aimed at raising partridges for release and restocking of hunting areas P rez y P rez 1981 Gonzalez Redondo 1999 2004 Breeding par tridges with ages usually ranging from one to three years old are kept in pairs in outdoor cages Flores 1979 P rez y P rez 1981 Gonzalez Redondo 2004 A breeding red legged partridge lays an average of 30 eggs per re productive season running usually from March to July P rez y P rez 1981 Gonzalez Redondo et al 2003 However the red legged partridge reproductive per formance varies greatly due to its remarkable reproduc tive seasonality this being more intense under a natural photoperiod P rez y P rez 1981 Gonzalez Redondo et al 2003 tha
7. de la crianza de la perdiz roja Ed Proavial Arenys de Mar Bar celona Spain In Spanish GONZ LEZ REDONDO P 1995a La cr a de perdices rojas a peque a escala Federcaza 117 65 69 In Spanish GONZ LEZ REDONDO P 1995b Transporte de perdices rojas Selecciones Av colas 38 229 231 In Spanish GONZ LEZ REDONDO P 1997 Mejora de la calidad de la perdiz roja de granja Mundo Ganadero 94 56 59 In Spanish GONZALEZ REDONDO P 1999 Marketing y comercia lizaci n de la producci n en las granjas cineg ticas de perdiz roja Selecciones Av colas 41 494 508 In Spanish GONZ LEZ REDONDO P 2003 Ganader a alternativa Proc II Jornadas Ib ricas de Razas Aut ctonas y sus Pro ductos Tradicionales Ganader a Ecol gica Sevilla Spain pp 119 122 In Spanish Characterisation and typification of the red legged partridge farms in Spain 633 GONZ LEZ REDONDO P DELGADO M REINA M 2003 Caracterizaci n de la puesta y su viabilidad en una granja cineg tica de perdiz roja Alectoris rufa Proc II Jornadas Ib ricas de Razas Aut ctonas y sus Productos Tradicionales Ganader a Ecol gica Sevilla Spain pp 182 183 In Spanish GONZ LEZ REDONDO P 2004 Un caso de cambio en el manejo de los recursos cineg ticos la historia de la cr a en cautividad de la perdiz roja en Espa a Rev Esp Estud Agrosoc Pesq 204 179 203 In Spanish GONZ LEZ REDONDO P 2005 Evoluci n y situaci n
8. risks Villan a et al 2008 genes introgression Blanco A guiar et al 2008 low hunting quality Gonz lez Redondo 1997 and low survival rate P rez et al 2004 Alonso et al 2005 after release and restocking could also be contributing to the tur naround in the pace of development of new farms This leads to many hunting preserves in which the red legged partridge population is managed for shooting by mani pulation of the natural environment rather than direct birds husbandry The birds are wild there is no rearing and release of birds by man and the habitat can be ma naged to yield a limited number of shooting days or hunting bags Canning 2005 Gonzalez Redondo 2005 Despite this the red legged partridge game farm sub sector is nowadays well established in Spain being much less likely to experience sharp drop shortly after a initial speculative expansion that have characterised 630 P Gonzalez Redondo et al Span J Agric Res 2010 8 3 624 633 many alternative livestock systems e g ostrich farming Carbajo 2003 Gonz lez Redondo 2003 The number of pairs of the breeding flock discrimi nated among farm types Table 2 Complete cycle farms can be differentiated into two groups Farm type 1 included mainly traditional farms having a middle sized breeding flock with less than 1 000 pairs sugges ting most of these farms were carried out under a fa mily business system provided that one man work unit can ma
9. variables antigiiedad de la granja y n mero de parejas reproductoras La segunda explic el 35 9 de la varianza incluyendo las variables venta de huevos incuba bles y tenencia de un coto de caza donde se sueltan perdices producidas por la granja Un an lisis de conglomerados subsiguiente diferenci tres tipolog as de granjas La tipolog a 1 incluy 36 granjas de ciclo completo fundadas prin cipalmente hasta 1996 mayoritariamente con plantel reproductor de hasta 999 parejas La tipolog a 2 incluy 11 gran jas sin reproductores fundadas desde 2003 La tipolog a 3 incluy 16 granjas de ciclo completo fundadas entre 1997 y 2002 siendo la mayor a de mayor tama o con al menos 1 000 parejas reproductoras y que suplementan artificial mente el fotoperiodo a los reproductores La mitad de las granjas de este grupo vende huevos incubables y ha expor tado perdices y la mayor a tiene un coto de caza donde sueltan perdices La fundaci n de granjas de perdiz creci has ta 2002 disminuyendo despu s con tendencia hacia la creaci n de granjas de la tipolog a 2 sin reproductores Se concluye que este sub sector av cola est consolidado y ha alcanzado su madurez en Espa a pese a tener s lo cuatro d cadas de existencia Palabras clave adicionales an lisis multivariante avicultura alternativa especies cineg ticas publicidad Corresponding author pedro us es Received 12 10 09 Accepted 08 06 10 Abbreviations used MCA multiple
10. which significantly reduces the number of partridges released Asociacion de Criadores y Actividades Cineg ticas Turisticas An daluzas 2009 given that hunting is related to leisure time The three farm types showed the same pattern for advertising and promotion activities Table 2 and closely fitted to that previously described by Gonzalez Redondo 1999 2005 The main activity carried out by two third of the farms Table 2 consisted in ad vertising itself in the game press provided the nume rous specialized magazines currently published in Spain Advertising on the internet has not yet reached the quantitative importance that has the same activity on hunting magazines provided that less than a quarter of the farms advertise their activities on the internet Table 2 In contrast almost half of the farms had and owned web site Table 2 an important tool aimed at promoting itself and attracting potential clients pro vided these webs are usually illustrated using photo graphs of the birds and facilities something that help to enhance customers confidence on the hunting quality of the farmed partridges Gonz lez Redondo 2005 In conclusion this paper contributes useful informa tion for game farms and red legged partridge breeding centres by reporting on their structure and marketing something that is helpful in the development of mana gement aids for farmers planning criteria for the Ad ministration and tools for advi
11. 25 September 2009 In Spanish CASTEL J M MENA Y DELGADO PERT EZ M CAMUNEZ J BASULTO J CARAVACA F GUZM N GUERRERO J L ALCALDE M J 2003 Characte rization of semi extensive goat production systems in southern Spain Small Rumin Res 47 133 143 COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 2005 Council Regulation EC N 1 2005 of 22 December 2004 on the protection of animals during transport and related opera tions and amending Directives 64 432 EEC and 93 119 EC and Regulation EC N 1255 97 Official Journal of the European Union L3 1 44 DALMAU A 1994 Manual de la codorniz Cr a industrial y para la caza Ed Dilagro Lleida Spain 268 pp In Spanish D AS D 1992 Rock Alectoris graeca and chukar A chukar partridge introductions in Portugal and their possible hybridization with red legged partridges 4 rufa a research project Gibier Faune Sauvage 9 781 784 FERRER M NEGRO J J 2004 The near extinction of two large European predators super specialists pay a price Conserv Biol 18 344 349 FLORES A J 1979 Contribuci n al estudio de algunos caracteres tnicos de la perdiz roja espa ola Alectoris rufa en cautividad Nuestra Caba a 76 48 53 In Spanish GARC A E 1991 Instalaciones y equipo b sico de cr a para la explotaci n de la perdiz roja In La perdiz roja Fundaci n La Caixa AEDOS Barcelona Spain pp 45 52 In Spanish GARC A E 2006 Instalaciones equipo y manejo
12. Instituto Nacional de Investigaci n y Tecnolog a Agraria y Alimentaria INIA Spanish Journal of Agricultural Research 2010 8 3 624 633 Available online at www inia es sjar ISSN 1695 971 X eISSN 2171 9292 Characterisation and typification of the red legged partridge Alectoris rufa game farms in Spain P Gonz lez Redondo M Delgado Pertifiez S Toribio F A Ruiz Y Mena F P Caravaca and J M Castel 1 Departamento de Ciencias Agroforestales Escuela Universitaria de Ingenieria T cnica Agricola Universidad de Sevilla Ctra de Utrera km 1 41013 Sevilla Spain IFAPA Camino de Purchil Junta de Andalucia 18080 Granada Spain Abstract This study was aimed to characterise and typify the red legged partridge Alectoris rufa game farms in Spain using variables related to structure and marketing A structured survey was carried out on 63 farms in 2008 A multiple correspondence analysis performed to characterise the farms yielded two dimensions First dimension explained 45 1 of the variance and included the variables age of the farm and number of pairs in the breeding flock Second dimension explained 35 9 of the variance and included the variables the farm sells hatching eggs and the farm has a hunting preserve where releasing part of the partridges produced A cluster analysis differentiated three farm typologies Farm type 1 included 36 complete cycle farms mainly established until 1996 most of them having 1 t
13. NILLA R GARC A CACH N M D ESPEJO M HERRAIZ P L S NCHEZ RECIO J M PIEDRAFITA J 2006 Struc tural characterisation and typology of beef cattle farms of Spanish wooded rangelands dehesas Livest Sci 99 197 209 MINISTERIO DE MEDIO AMBIENTE Y MEDIO RURAL Y MARINO 2009 Anuario de Estadistica 2008 on line Available in http www mapa es estadistica pags anuario 2008 AE_2008_19 pdf 29 September 2009 In Spanish OFFICE NATIONAL DE LA CHASSE 1973 Elevage des perdrix grises et des perdrix rouges La Maison Rustique Paris France 95 pp In French PAGES A GARCIA E 1991 Ense anzas y coloquios so bre la perdiz roja Selecciones Av colas 33 312 317 In Spanish PARDOS L MAZA M T FANTOVA E SEP LVEDA W 2008 The diversity of sheep production systems in Ara g n Spain characterisation and typification of meat sheep farms Span J Agric Res 6 497 507 P REZ Y P REZ F 1981 La perdiz roja espa ola Editorial Cient fico M dica Barcelona Spain 504 pp In Spanish PEREZ J A ALONSO M E GAUDIOSO V R OLMEDO J A D EZ C BARTOLOM D 2004 Use of radiotrac king techniques to study a summer repopulation with red legged partridge Alectoris rufa chicks Poult Sci 83 882 888 RUIZ F A CASTEL J M MENA Y CAM EZ J GONZ LEZ REDONDO P 2008 Application of the technico economic analysis for characterizing makes diagnoses and improving pastoral dairy goat systems in An
14. actual de las granjas de perdiz roja In Desarrollo soste nible de los espacios cineg ticos y su entorno Ed Ceder Campi a Sur Azuaga Badajoz pp 11 23 In Spanish GONZ LEZ REDONDO P 2006a Cr a en cautividad de conejos de monte Cunicultura 181 151 161 In Spanish GONZ LEZ REDONDO P 2006b Influence of the laying date on the fertility and hatchability of red legged par tridge Alectoris rufa eggs J Appl Poult Res 15 579 583 GONZ LEZ REDONDO P 2010 Effect of long term storage on the hatchability of Red legged partridge Alectoris rufa eggs Poult Sci 89 379 383 GONZALEZ REDONDO P DE LA ROSA 2009 Efecto de la duraci n de la fase de volteo de los huevos de perdiz roja Alectoris rufa durante la incubaci n sobre la tasa de eclosi n ITEA 105 291 295 In Spanish GORT ZAR C VILLAFUERTE R MART N M 2000 Success of traditional restocking of red legged partridge for hunting purposes in areas of low density of Northeast Spain Arag n Z Jagdwiss 46 23 30 LARA J ARENZANA O 1965 La cr a y cultivo de la per diz roja Experiencias realizadas en los Montes de Mora Servicio Nacional de Pesca Fluvial y Caza Ministerio de Agricultura Madrid Spain 65 pp In Spanish MANETTI O 1989 Cr a del fais n Ed Mundi Prensa Madrid Spain 185 pp In Spanish MARSAL J M 2001 La avicultura catalana a inicios del siglo XXI Ganader a 7 38 39 In Spanish MIL N M J BARTOLOM J QUINTA
15. artificial photo regulation in the red partrid ge Proc 18 World s Poultry Congress Nagoya Japan pp 657 659 BLANCO J A VIRGOS F VILLAFUERTE R 2003 Perdiz roja Alectoris rufa In Atlas de las aves reproductoras de Espa a Mart R Del Moral J C eds Direcci n General de Conservaci n de la Naturaleza Ministerio de Medio Ambiente Sociedad Espa ola de Ornitolog a Madrid pp 212 213 In Spanish BLANCO AGUIAR J A GONZ LEZ JARA P FERRERO M E S NCHEZ BARBUDO I VIRG S E VILLAFUERTE R D VILA J A 2008 Assessment of game restocking contributions to anthropogenic hybridi zation the case ofthe Iberian red legged partridge Anim Conserv 11 535 545 BORBOUZE A 1995 Goat production system study me thods In Goat production systems in the Mediterranean Aich A Landau S Borbouze A Rubino R Morand Fehr P eds EAAP Publ Wageningen Pers The Nether lands Vol 71 pp 6 19 CANNING P 2005 The UK game bird industry A short study Ed Adas Lincoln England 24 pp on line Avai lable in http www defra gov uk foodrin industry sectors eggspoultry documents gamebirdindustry study pdf 10 September 2009 CARBAJO E 2003 Producci n de avestruces en Espa a informe 1993 2002 Profesi n Veterinaria 55 12 18 In Spanish CARDENAL J P 2003 El emperador de las perdices rojas Magazine El Mundo on line Available in http www elmundo es magazine 2003 174 1043401557 html
16. ccessfully perform relea se restocking and habitat management in the hunting preserves Gonz lez Redondo 1999 2005 This attracts new inexperienced landowners and gamekeepers A third of the farms had an owned hunting preserve in which release part of the partridges in order for sell organised shoots Table 2 This option has three uti lities and benefits satisfy the demand for intensive shooting by a part of the hunters put on the market a significant part of the partridges reared by the farm and increases the added value of these partridges when compared to the ones sold directly to customers provi ded that the price of one partridge hunted in a intensive game preserve is much higher than when directly bought from the farm Gonzalez Redondo 1999 2005 The geographic market area in which the red legged partridge farms sell their products showed only mar ginal differences among farm clusters the farm type 3 showing the highest proportion of farms operating in all the Spanish territory Table 2 Providing transport regulation are followed Council of the European Union 2005 the maximum journey time for these birds makes part of the Iberian Peninsula out of range only for few Spanish game farms thus not limiting this particular trade This leads to three quarters of the farms selling their products all over Spain regardless of their typo logy Table 2 Nearly a third of the farms have exported partridges Table 2 Howeve
17. dalusia Spain Small Rumin Res 77 208 220 S NCHEZ GARC A ABAD C ALONSO M E PRIETO R GONZ LEZ V GAUDIOSO V R 2009 Una visi n sobre la avicultura para la producci n de caza en Espa a ITEA 105 169 183 In Spanish SPSS INC 2006 Manual del usuario de SPSS Base 15 0 SPSS Inc Chicago USA 618 pp In Spanish VILLANUA D P REZ RODR GUEZ L CASAS F ALZAGA V ACEVEDO P VI UELA J GORT ZAR C 2008 Sanitary risks of red legged partridge releases introduction of parasites Eur J Wildl Res 54 199 204
18. ell hatching eggs and that have an owned hunting preserve where releasing part of its production Second dimension eigenvalue 1 437 inertia 0 359 higher values mean oldest farms and with higher number of breeding pairs Fig 2 Table 2 shows the frequencies for each cate gory of the variables showing differences among clusters and the statistical significances of the differences among these farm types for the variables studied Three differentiated farm types are described as follows Type 1 Oldest medium sized and complete cycle farms n 36 farms Farms in this group are distinguished from the other groups because were mainly established until 1996 all of them having a complete cycle structure and most of them having 1 to 999 pairs in the breeding flock Type 2 Most recent and without breeding pairs farms n 11 farms Farms in the second group differ form the other farm types because were established since 2003 and have not breeding flock Type 3 Middle aged big sized complete cycle hi tech and diversified farms n 16 farms Farms in this group were established between 1997 and 2002 most of them being the largest with 1 000 onwards pairs in the breeding flock All of them have a complete cycle structure most of them carrying out artificial photoperiod supplementation of the breeding pairs Half of the farm in this group sell hatching egg have ever exported partridges and most of them have
19. es of breeding pairs that usually are sold sexed and that are born in the previous reproductive season to them being put into breeding Gonz lez Redondo 1999 The specific rearing and selling of male partridges for their use as decoys has achieved a great importance as illustrated by the fact that three quarter of the farms supply this product with no difference among farm types Table 2 This is due to the high demand of decoys Characterisation and typification of the red legged partridge farms in Spain 631 in some regions mainly Andaluc a Extremadura and Castilla La Mancha where the traditional method of hunting with male partridge as a decoy is rooted P rez y P rez 1981 Gonz lez Redondo 1999 2005 To the development of this market niche also contributes the fact that the selling price of a decoy is between three to five times the one of a partridge for release The im portance of this booming market niche has lead to the development of specific products for decoys such as feeds and cages Gonz lez Redondo 1999 2005 Game management in general and in particular transporting release and restocking of red legged par tridges are not easy to carry out given the wild nature and stress prone behaviour of this species Gonzalez Redondo 1995b Gortazar et al 2000 Most farms Table 2 offer to their customers the service of trans porting the animals from the farm to the hunting pre serves and advice on how to su
20. g 2005 Moreover providing transport regulation are followed the transport limit for one day old chicks of 24 hours providing it is completed within 72 hours after hatching facilitates their distribution Canning 2005 Council of the European Union 2005 Artificial lighting program usually implemented for stimulating earlier and increased egg production by the breeding flock Flores 1979 Bagliacca et al 1988 was the most important variable differentiating technological levels of the farms Farms in the cluster 3 showed the highest proportion of artificial photope riod supplementation Table 2 The breeding rearing and selling of game species other than partridges was carried out by a quarter of the red legged partridge farms regardless of typology Table 2 Pheasants and quails are the most wide spread species due to the fact that their breeding and rearing technologies are partly similar to that of the partridge particularly hatchery management brooding and pen rearing Manetti 1989 Dalmau 1994 Breeding and rearing of wild rabbits was less developed among red legged partridge farms Table 2 although is growing rapidly in Spain due to the high demand both for restocking of hunting preserves Gonz lez Redondo 2006a and for its use in recovery plans of threatened species e g Iberian Lynx Lynx pardina and Spanish Imperial Eagle Aquila adalberti that prey on the rabbit Ferrer and Negro 2004 All the surve
21. h variables the proportion of farms selling hatching eggs and having a hunting preserve increases with the abscissa The second dimension corresponding to the ordinate included two variables 1 the age of the farm that decreases with the ordinate and 11 the number of pairs in the breeding flock that increases with the ordinate and the farms without breeding pairs being at the highest values in the ordinate Table 3 shows discrimination measures of the variables Farm types differentiation Classification of the farms by the two dimensions established three well defined farm types clusters Table 3 Discrimination measures of the variables according to the two dimensions obtained from the multivariate analysis Dimension 1 Dimension 2 The farm has an owned hunting preserve where releasing part of the partridges reared 0 483 0 067 The farm sells hatching eggs 0 392 0 003 Year of establishment of the farm 0 464 0 724 Number of pairs in the breeding flock 0 464 0 643 2 00 4 O N A A 1 00 5 A s A A E 0 S 0 00 0 A A O O 1 00 o O 4 00 2 00 0 00 2 00 4 00 Dimension 1 Farm type oi O2 43 Figure 2 Spatial localisation of the farms according to the two dimensions obtained from the multivariate analysis Each point includes several overlapped farms First dimension eigenva lue 1 803 intertia 0 451 higher values mean farms that s
22. icipate in the study The sample used was formed by 63 Spanish game farms located in 12 regions Table 1 whose stratified distribution closely fitted to the actual regional distribution of the red legged partridge game farms in Spain Gonzalez Redondo 2005 S nchez Garcia Abad et al 2009 The sample amounted to 14 2 of the 444 registered Spanish game farms raising red legged partridges for release or restocking S nchez Garcia Abad et al 2009 Data collection and variables studied The information was obtained by a survey carried out by directly interviewing the farmers The survey was conducted in summer 2008 and the information gathered by the questionnaire referred to this year The structured questionnaire included 19 qualitative variables and two quantitative variables belonging to the following Table 1 Disribution of surveyed red legged partridge game farms according to the Spanish regions Region n Andaluc a 16 25 4 Castilla y Le n 13 20 6 Castilla La Mancha 8 127 Extremadura 5 7 9 Catalu a 5 7 9 Comunidad Valenciana 5 7 9 Arag n 3 4 8 Madrid 2 32 Pais Vasco 2 3 2 Murcia 2 3 2 Navarra 1 1 6 Galicia 1 1 6 Total 63 100 0 groups a farm location and year of establishment b farm size measured as the number of breeding pairs structure and management practices c raises game species other than red legged partridge d offers products other than partridges for release or resto cking e
23. n under artificial photoperiod supple mentation P rez y P rez 1981 Bagliacca etal 1988 Gonzalez Redondo 2006b The eggs are collected on a daily basis and are stored before being loaded in an artificial incubator where are incubated at 37 8 C and 55 relative humidity until the hatching occurs after a 23 to 24 day incubation period Flores 1979 P rez y P rez 1981 Gonzalez Redondo 2006b Gonzalez Redondo and De la Rosa 2009 The newly hatched chicks are reared during a four to six weeks period in brooder houses where a litter on the floor fresh water and starter mash are provided and in which the chicks are heated using gas or electric infra red lamps P rez y P rez 1981 After this initial period the growing partridges are reared in large rearing pens because the red legged partridge is a fast flying bird that needs to exercise its flying ability in order to keep a minimum hunting quality Gonz lez Redondo 1997 Yearly partridges usually remain in the rea ring pens until they are sold for release or restocking of hunting grounds when they are around three months old Flores 1979 P rez y P rez 1981 Gonzalez Redondo 2004 There are nowadays in Spain 669 farms that raise red legged partridges Sanchez Garcia Abad et al 2009 The production systems under these farms are carried out greatly differ because the establishment of red legged partridge game farms has taken place under two heterogeneous models c
24. nage a complete cycle red legged partridge farm of some 400 breeding pairs Office National de la Chasse 1973 In fact Garcia 2006 states that most of the Spanish red legged partridge farms are managed by only one man work unit Farm type 3 corresponds to the biggest farms most of them probably established as a business entity The division of farms according to them being of complete cycle or not was a variable enabling clearly independent discrimination among farm types Table 2 This study identifies a group farm type 2 of newly established farms without breeding flock or incubators devoted solely to rearing partridges starting from one day old chicks The specialisation of the red legged partridge game farms sector into phases with a structure similar to that of the poultry industry parent stock farms hatcheries chicks growing farms was early proposed by Garcia 1991 In the second half of the Nineties it can be found the first red legged par tridge game farms that sell hatching eggs and one day old chicks for other farms Gonzalez Redondo 1999 The practice of purchasing one day old chicks to start a red legged partridge raising venture is becoming increasingly widespread For the beginner farmer type 2 Table 2 this is the best approach because they will buy at day old and rear on saving the capital outlay and expense on breeding birds cages incubators and related equipment and handling Gonz lez Redondo 1999 Cannin
25. o 999 pairs in the breeding flock Farm type 2 included 11 farms without breeding flock established since 2003 Farm type 3 included 16 complete cycle farms established between 1997 and 2002 most of them being the highest with 1 000 onwards breeding pairs and carrying out artificial photoperiod supplementation of the breeding pairs Half of the farms in this group sell hatching egg have ever exported partridges and most of them have a hunting preserve where releasing part of the production The establishment of red legged partridge game farms increased until 2002 declining thereafter and shifting towards the second farm type without breeding flock This alternative poultry production system could have reached its development maturity and is a sub sector well established in Spain despite being only four decades old Additional key words advertising strategies alternative poultry hunting species multivariate analysis Resumen Caracterizaci n y tipificaci n de las granjas cineg ticas de perdiz roja Alectoris rufa en Espa a El objetivo de este estudio fue caracterizar y tipificar las granjas cineg ticas de perdiz roja Alectoris rufa en Es pa a usando variables relacionadas con su antigiiedad tama o estructura comercializaci n y publicidad Para ello se realiz una encuesta estructurada a 63 granjas en 2008 Un an lisis de correspondencias m ltiple gener dos di mensiones La primera explic el 45 1 de la varianza incluyendo las
26. oexisting medium to large sized farms that have been established as a business entity under an industrial model along with small scale complementary farms Gonzalez Redondo 1995a 2005 The maturity achieved by the sector during the Nineties decade has led to a progressive spe cialisation characterised by complete cycle farms coexisting along with others specialising only in rearing and preparing partridges for their release Gonzalez Redondo 1999 2005 In addition there has been a diversification of products offered to the market which has led to the production along with partridges for release and restocking of other more re cently spread products such as males for being used as decoys in traditional hunting breeding pairs for other farms one day old chicks and hatching eggs Gonzalez Redondo 1999 For these reasons red legged partrid ge farms show a wide variety of sizes technological levels geographic areas for marketing their products and marketing and advertising strategies which remain to be investigated The farms characterisation and its typifying using multivariate analysis techniques have been widely used in livestock research for rural development and planning Castel et al 2003 Pardos et al 2008 Ruiz et al 2008 and have revealed itself as very useful tools for enhan cing knowledge of the production sector and for helping technicians managers and the Administration to make decisions aimed at a bet
27. r this activity is carried out sporadi cally and the main destinations of Spanish partridges were neighbouring countries Portugal France as documented in the literature Dias 1992 Cardenal 2003 and to a lesser extent Italy and Libya Throughout history free living red legged partridges have been exported from Spain due to their abundance and hunting quality Gonzalez Redondo 2004 and this trend con tinues nowadays with farmed partridges Canning 2005 This market niche however is constrained by red tapes for animal health reasons and by the actual wildlife restoration strategies which promote release and re stocking using birds from autochthonous populations in order to avoid problems derived from genes or alleles introgression Blanco A guiar et al 2008 Moreover the maximum permitted journey time for birds Council of the European Union 2005 makes much of the potential foreign market out of range for many Spanish game farms thus limiting this particular trade Although traditionally a significant part of the output of the game farms is sold in its local environ ment and through direct relationships in the hunting sector advertising and promotion activities are impor tant because of increased competition in this particular market Gonzalez Redondo 1999 Moreover these activities provide advantage to gain market share in contexts of economic crisis e g the one of the end of the first decade of the 21 century
28. ry because total inertia explained by MCA solution was higher than in other similar studies using MCA Castel et al 2003 Mil n et al 2006 Pardos et al 2008 Dimension 1 was mainly influenced by the farm diversification strategies related to products and services offered to the market dimension 2 depends largely on size and age of the farm Table 3 Moreover the interpretation of the cluster solution on farm typo logies is clear because the three clusters are well defi ned and mutually exclusive Fig 2 Central and southern Iberian Peninsula namely Andaluc a Extremadura Castilla y Le n Madrid and Castilla La Mancha regions concentrates nearly three quarters of the surveyed red legged partridge farms Table 1 This coincides with the area of higher popu lation density Blanco et al 2003 and hunting bags Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Medio Rural y Marino 2009 in the distribution range of this species The strength and level of development of the poultry industry has also favoured the high prevalence of game farms in other regions like Catalu a and Valencia Marsal 2001 Gonz lez Redondo 2005 The results of the present study closely fit to the regional distribu tion of the red legged partridge farms that has been described previously Flores 1979 Gonz lez Redondo 2005 S nchez Garc a Abad et al 2009 The geographic distribution of farms did not enable however discrimi nation among farm types Table
29. sors Spanish red legged 632 P Gonzalez Redondo et al Span J Agric Res 2010 83 624 633 partridge game farms constitutes an alternative poultry sub sector four decades old that have reached its deve lopment maturity and that is nowadays well establi shed This has lead to a diversification and heteroge neity of the red legged partridge game farms in relation to size structure technological level product market diversification and age which suggest the necessity not only of specific and differentiated training programs but also advising strategies according to the typology of each farm Acknowledgements The authors thank the farmers who participate in this research for their kindly collaboration This re search was supported by the research group Tecno log a de la Producci n Animal PAIDI code AGR 233 References ALONSO M E PEREZ J A GAUDIOSO V R D EZ C PRIETO R 2005 Study of survival dispersal and home range of autumn released red legged partridges Alectoris rufa Br Poult Sci 46 401 406 ASOCIACION DE CRIADORES Y ACTIVIDADES CINEGETICAS TURISTICAS ANDALUZAS 2009 Informe del estado actual de la cabafia de especies cineg ticas criadas en cautividad en Andalucia on line Available in http www acacta com uploads 20090323iNFORME 20DEL 20IMPACTO 20DE 2 OLA 20CRISIS 20EN 20LAS 20G C 20ANDAL UZAS pdf 29 January 2010 In Spanish BAGLIACCA M MORI B GUALTERIO L 1988 Egg laying under
30. ter implementation and mana gement of farm support programs Pardos et al 2008 Despite the importance of the red legged partridge game farms in Spain until nowadays only few studies deal with the historical genesis of the production sector Gonz lez Redondo 2004 as well as the analysis of its situation Flores 1979 S nchez Garcia Abad et al 2009 and its evolution Gonz lez Redondo 2005 S nchez Garc a Abad et al 2009 have been carried out using only descriptive methodologies or informa tive approaches The farms however have not been yet characterised nor typified Therefore the aim of the present study is to characterise and typify the Spanish game farms that raise red legged partridge by using variables related to structure marketing and adverti sing This will provide relevant knowledge about small game farming systems and their diversity 626 P Gonzalez Redondo et al Span J Agric Res 2010 83 624 633 Methodology Study area and sample selection This study was conducted in the whole Spain as one of the most important countries in which the red legged partridge is raised for release or restocking Gonz lez Redondo 2004 Searching for farms candidates in order for the survey to be administered was carried out by different ways public registers enterprises databases press advertisements web searches and personal contacts All the farmers that were found were contacted and in vited to voluntarily part
31. the three farm typologies was carried out using contingency tables on which Pearson s chi square tests were performed and the standardized residuals were calculated In the inter pretation of the standardized residuals 1 96 was consi dered to be the discriminant value for a confidence level of 95 The statistical analyses were performed using the SPSS v 15 0 program SPSS Inc 2006 Results Table 2 shows the frequencies of the variables cha racterising the red legged partridge game farms Figure 1 shows the distribution of the farms according to the Characterisation and typification of the red legged partridge farms in Spain 627 year of their establishment All the farms were private by them having breeding flock complete cycle farms owned and reared partridges but can be differentiated or not Table 2 Frequencies percentage of farms of the variables by game red legged partridge farming type standardised residuals in parentheses Variabl P Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3 Total AA n 36 n 11 n 16 n 63 Localisation and establishment year Study area 0 499 Andaluc a Castilla La Mancha Madrid and Extremadura 52 8 0 7 63 6 1 1 31 3 1 7 49 2 Arag n and Castilla y Le n 27 8 0 5 18 2 0 6 25 0 0 0 25 4 Catalu a Comunidad Valenciana and Murcia 13 9 1 2 18 2 0 1 31 3 1 4 19 0 Galicia Navarra and Pais Vasco 5 6 0 3 0 0 1 0 12 5 1 2 6 3 Year of establishment lt 0 001
32. yed farms raised and sold partridges for release or restocking provided that this is the origi nal and the most demanded product of the game farms Flores 1979 P rez y P rez 1981 Red legged par tridges are widely used in hunting preserves and shoots as they adapt well to a landscape shaped by modern agriculture and they can be reared and released with comparative ease Canning 2005 Estimates of numbers of red legged partridges reared and released in Spain vary considerably Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Medio Rural y Marino 2009 Sanchez Garcia Abad et al 2009 due to the lack of a proper homogeneous across Autonomous Communities recording system in place Despite this it is estimated that well over 3 000 000 partridges are reared and released per year in Spain Sanchez Garcia Abad et al 2009 illustrating the strength of the sub sector depicted in this research In addition to red legged partridges for release or restocking purposes as the main product many farms have diversified their productions Hatching eggs and one day old chicks are sold by a fifth of the farms Ta ble 2 The hatching eggs market is supported by the fact that red legged partridge eggs can be stored if ne cessary up to a month prior to their incubation Gonzalez Redondo 2010 Breeding partridges for other farms are also offered to the marked because in the last years many red legged partridge farms have been establi shed demanding large batch
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