Loamy prairie and claypan prairie range sites were preferred by the pen-reared Attwater's prairie chickens (Tympanuchus cupido attwateri) with a cattle (Bos taurus) stocking rate of 1.96 AUM/ ha. The Reichardt Pasture, with a greater stocking rate of 4.5 AUM/ ha, was the only pasture used during the spring by the pen-reared prairie chickens. The prairie chickens avoided pastures that were not as grazed as the Reichardt Pasture. Prairie chicken use of an area was positively correlated with cattle stocking rate, due to those areas typically having lower visual-obstruction, litter depth, and plant heights, and more bare ground. The authors suggest that a grazing regime be used to create vegetative structure and forb production that pen-reared Attwater's prairie chickens prefer in order to maximize the probability that they survive when released onto the refuge.
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