Surrogate Hens Help Wild Greys

Scottish gamekeepers and some adoptive bantam hens have helped to bring wild grey partridges back to the Tomatin moors

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Wild grey partridges have been returned to the Tomatin moors in Inverness-shire thanks to local gamekeepers and some unusual help from bantam chickens.

Wild greys had not been seen on the moor since the late 1990s, but in 2011 the team at Clune estate set out to bring them back.

Clune headkeeper Duncan Mackenzie explained: “They are native birds but it can be difficult for them to cope with the extremes of weather in Scotland, particularly on high ground. We did some research about how to give them a helping hand and we discovered that sometimes bantam hens will brood the eggs of other species all the way up until they hatch.”