\
TWO - Heppner (iturtle-1im n, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, August 5,W§7
Raising birds no game for Heppner man
Mention chuckars or pheasants
and most people think of the sport
of bird hunting Mention the birds
to Merlin Cantin of Heppner. and
it's strictly business
Merlin is raising game birds for
sale to fee hunting ranches, and in
the last several months has seen his
home grown business lake off like a
startled bird on an (Xtoher momma
"I decided to raise a few
chuckars. and maybe sell some to the
guys around here," Cantin says
while surveying a brooder full of
chicks on his ranch nine miles out of
Heppner on Hinton Creek
He advertised the chuckars for
sale in the newspaper, and sold about
MX) to local farmers Response
wasn't overwhelming, and all of a
sudden he found himself wondering
what to do with 400 unsold birds
Thinking perhaps he had made a
big mistake. Cantin again ran his
advertisement, and this lime hit pay
dirt.
‘*1 put in another ad. and bingo,
a woman in Arlington picked it up
She told her father, who runs a hun
ting ranch in Southern Oregon, and
he called me up,” recounts Cantin
Still ama/cd at the chain of events.
Cantin says the rancher took all the
birds he had left, and asked fur
more, much more "He wants 250
a week, chuckars and pheasants.”
Cantin has about 300 chuckars on
hand now, and about 400 mure
presently incubating Those, along
with several hundred more chicks he
has on order, will he raised and sold
this year, and then he will begin
gearing up to deliver the larger
amount for nest year's season
“ I really wasn't prepared to han
die (hat many so fast, but I guess I'm
in it with both feet. " says Cantin
eyeing one pen with about 100 six-
week-old birds
Which means he has had to learn
the business fast "I can hatch 400
h«bJs at a time.” he says pointing to
his home several hundred leet from
A new "Log Bucking Contest”
has been added to the Sunday August
23 Morrow County Fair and Rodeo
Schedule The log contest will take
place on the Little league field at the
fairgrounds from 10 a m until noon
The logging crews that have heard
about the contest arc very cn
thusiastic about entering
A purse of over $500 has been
donated by the logging industry The
Morrow County Fair and Rodeo
Board will sweeten the pot with an
additional $100 A $5 entry fee
charged each contestant also will be
added to the purse The contest w ill
pay awards to the first four places
in the contest
Those w ishing to enter the contest
may do so hy calling Marlene Cur
rm. fair secretary , at the Fair Office,
676 d474 before 5 p m August 22
The Fair rules for the contest
allow only stock saws No modified
chainsaws will be permitted in the
contest The contest is a timed event
with timers provided by the fair
"We look for a lot of interest in
this new event and we hope the
bleachers will be packed with spec
tators,'* says the fair secretary
Log Bucking contest added to fair
M SgBB BB BgaOB
where his brooding shed is located
There is no room in the shed so he
keeps the incubators in the den of his
house Incubation time is 23 days
With chuckars. Cantin says, he
will keep 50 breeding hens and 15
roosters over the winter, and then in
May start the birds laying again
"The chuckars only lay five months
out of the year, and they will lay one
egg per day." he says.
Once the birds are hatched, they
are transferred to brooders where
they are kept for two weeks.
Cantin says his buyer will take the
chuckars at eight weeks, an age at
which fee hunters are assured the
birds will fly. "He turns some out
every week, and at eight weeks they
will fly. They gotta fly." says
Cantin
The hunting ranch where Cantin
will sell his birds is l«xalcd in
southern Oregon near Vale, and of
fers a total package to the hunter
For $108 per day the hunter gets
room and board, a dog. a guide if
he wants one. and. of course, good
bird hunting "And there's no bag
limit," says Cantin
In addition to the chuckars. Can
tin says he also will raise ringneck
pheasant "They re a little harder to
handle. " he explains, "but I guess
I'm into it "
Pheasant must be turned into fly
ing pens when they come out of the
brooders, and they must be fitted
with spectacles
Placing the birds into fly ing pens
insures they will fly when released
into the wild, and the spectacles,
which fit over the nose of the bird,
block the view and keep the phea
cant from pecking each other
"They (hunters) want a nice look
mg bird," Cantin says in explaining
the ins and outs of the game bird
353
umili
m
FREE
RODEO
TICKETS
The Morrow County Grain Growers will hold a weekly draw
ing for one family ticket for the Pendleton Roundup. Drawings
are scheduled for August 7,14, 21, and 28. Fill out entry blank
at right; bring or mail into Morrow County Grain Growers in
Lexington.
ELECTRIC FENCE POSTS
79 $
business It is also essential that the
birds fly "If the birds don't fly they
aren't much use to 'em,” he says
Cantin may have got into the bird
business "with both feet" as he puts
it. but those feet seem firmly planted
on the ground He knows there are
hazards, as with any venture, in rats
mg birds for sale
"Feed costs money, my electric
bill went up $40 a month You've
got to be careful."he points out
The hazards of the business were
dramatically demonstrated to him
one evening, when he came home
and discovered 23 dead birds in the
brooder
are getting big. and are almost ready to be turn
"They huddled." he said The ed Chuckars
out for hunting
automatic thermostat on the brooder
malfunclMined, the heal did not come
on. and htc birds piled on top of each
other to keep w arm " It d« <\n 't take
many of those to take the pnifit right
out of it." Cantin says of the loss
He also knows of a bird raiser near
Mitchell who recently went broke,
despite having 4.(XX) birds
Speaking on fee hunting. Cantin
says he expects some people locally
to get into the business, especially
when grass on the Conservation
Reserve Program land gets taller,
making ideal cover for pheasant and
chuckars "I understand one guy is
really looking hard at going into it
in a big way "
Cantin is the first to admit he
doesn't know everything about rais
ing game birds, and is still learning
For example he found that a special
Cantin of Heppner shows brooder in which game birds
game bird food he bought was too are Merlin
kept after hatching Cantin has started a new business,
big and had to be ground down 'aising chuckars and pheasant on his ranch on Hinton Creek
before the birds could get it
Also, in November he is making
fire
a trip to California, where he will Laundry
learn how to sex the birds "I keep
Cause of a Thursday evening fire Forrie Hurkcnbine said Hu* tire
learning, picking up a little here, and at the laundromat in Heppner is department was called when a dryer
a little there." he savs
undetermined. Heppner Fire Chief lull <U towels and aprons caught fire
3 5 5 5 5 5 S t5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 ^ and begun to fill the room with
smoke The load of laundry was un
salvageable, he said, but neither the
dryer nor the building was damaged
The fire department used Us
special fans to remove smoke from
the building.
All the dryers were in perfect
working order Friday morning when
Heppner Nor-Gas checked them at
length, the fire chief said
only casualty in
ENTRY BLANK
NAME
ADDRESS
PHONE
Just fill out this entry from and deposit it at the
Morrow County Grain Growers in Lexington
ROUND STOCK TANK
1 1 /3 2 X 4 8 "
Welded seams,
Corrugated for
Strength
: l e c t r ic f e n c e w ir e
’/« Mile 17 GA. $749
CENEX Economy
Solid State Fencer
$ 3 9 95
K i u T Sltlf
'i
'
mj
s 1?
VN ins trivia contest
Marion McMillan was last week's
winner ol the Charlie's Pizza/Hepp
ner Gazette I lines trivia contest
Marion correctly answered that
the character who played Wally
Cleaver in the old "Leave it to
Beaver" series was Tony Dow
Marion has won a large pizza and
pilchci ol |x>p at either Charlie's Piz
/a m Heppner or Hemnslon.
You have a chance to win a pizza
too. but you must enter 17ns week's
question is What was the date of the
first manned landing on the moon?
It you think you know the answer
just use- (lie entry blank in this week's
paper, ot pick up an entry blank at
either Charlie's Pizza in Heppner. or
the Heppner Gazette Times.
6 Ft, Round
Denim Boot Cut
$9995
100\ Cotton
FI PmmH
»1510 M
by Dakota
Mens S12.95-Boys S10.95
BUCKETS & TUBS
COUNT ON CENEX FOR
YOUR GRASS SEED C.R.P.
$795
filler 18 qt
Rubber Pail
Miller All Purposc$R 4 9
Feed Tub
price and availability call
Dick, our seed representative, at
Morrow County Grain Growers
20 lb Refiliabjei
• Blue Color
• Rope In Hem
e Rust Proof
Grommets Every
3 Feet
8x10
»3.29
12x16
7.99
16x20
13.29
20x40 .............................. 32.99
For
PROPANE
CYLINDER
5 1 9 95r
Cc
■ WEED BURNER
s39
RED DRAGON
Torch Kit
VT3
GARDNER'S
951
193 N, Main, Heooner
Tubular Steel
GATE
.
Crain
Phon« 919-1221
- U U V V M t M t t t u t t j n t M VX
tM H t t t t
m County
[Growers
1 800-45? 7396
LEXINGTON. OREGON 97139
I L U V » t » X t M t
INC.
Box 367
tX X X X X X X X X X X
1V«" X 12’
Painted
pooooooocot
Computer
Bisks
SW" SS DD
GAZETTE
TIMES
«