Nutrition
Chukars flourish in overgrazed rangelands
in the west. The source of all of their tissue proteins,
like major muscle mass, is from dietary protein and amino acids. As herbivores, their main source of food is
annual and perennial grasses and forbs which are non-grass herbs
usually found in prairies. Some other sources of nutrition
include seeds of weeds, wild fruits, leaves, and bulbs which
they are able to dig up with their bills. Since these
birds live in drier environments, they need to have an adequate
water resource available at all times, especially during the
summer months.
When raised on a farm or by other forms of breeders, a
chukar's diet is somewhat different. It mainly consists of yellow
corn, soybean meal, wheatbran, limestone, fat and salt.
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