Earlier this month 60 16-week old bobwhites from Autumn Blaze Quail Farm near Buffalo were released at Bird and Bee Farm where they will find native Texas grasses and flowers to scratch around in.
The farm, located off US 79 between Rockdale and Milano, is a conservation partner in the Pastures for Upland Birds Program through the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department.
For the past three years Gene and Cindy Rek, the owners of the farm, and helpers have planted and cared for nine native grasses and 30 native flowers on 67 acres of the 100-acre farm.
By putting in the native grasses, the farm will become attractive to other wildlife native to the area, the Reks said.
“We are making every effort to establish a refuge for birds and pollinators that have lost their native habitat,” Cindy said.
The farm also has a butterfly garden filled with milkweed for passing Monarch butterflies on their migrations through the area.
In addition to adding the native plants, the Reks have also built a commercial enterprise around fowls.
They are helping repopulate Texas and Oklahoma with Rio Grande turkeys and they have a variety of chickens, both domestic and rare for sale.
They also have guinea fowls which are good to have around the farm, Gene said.
In fact, guinea fowl play a big part in the family business.
His wife got some guinea fowl, so he built a little coop for them to lay eggs in.
But soon owls learned about the guineas and Gene built a cage to protect them.
The flock grew.
“I built a couple more and before we knew it, we had a business,” he said.
The guinea fowl are good for two things, he said.
“For chemical-free pest control, and they make good watch dogs because they make noise when they see a snake or something strange,” Gene said.
The land the Reks are on has been in Gene’s family for years, he said.
“Dad was a dairy farmer,” he said.
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