Recommendations for haying in a wildlife-friendly manner

By FWP Region 6 Upland Game Bird Specialist Ken Plourde

Haying season is fast approaching, along with critical nesting and brood-rearing periods for Montana game birds like pheasants, grouse, Hungarian partridge and waterfowl. Many of these birds try to nest or raise their young in hay fields, which can cause big problems for them when haying equipment comes around.

Each year, many nests are destroyed, and hens, chicks and deer fawns are killed by haying equipment. However, just a few small conservation measures during the haying operation can reduce those losses by 60 percent or more. L...