Health Status and Stress in Different Categories of Racing Pigeons

Abstract

The influence of different stress parameters in racing pigeon flocks, such as the presence of diseases and environmental conditions at the time of the races, were described. A total of 96 racing pigeons from 4 pigeon flocks were examined, and health monitoring was carried out. No helminth eggs and coccidia were found. Trichomonas sp. was confirmed in subclinical form. Paramyxoviruses and avian influenza viruses were not confirmed, but circovirus infections were confirmed in all flocks. Chlamydia psittaci was confirmed in one flock. Blood samples were collected, and HI antibody titers against paramyxoviruses before and 25 days after vaccination were determined. To improve the conditions during racing and the welfare of the pigeons, critical points were studied with regard to stress factors during the active training season. Serum corticosterone levels were measured in the blood serum of four different categories of pigeons from each flock. Corticosterone levels were almost twice as high in pigeons from the category that were active throughout the racing season, including medium- and long-distance racing, compared to the other three categories that were not racing actively. Within five hours of the finish of a race, the average serum corticosterone level was 59.4 nmol/L in the most physically active category. The average serum corticosterone level in this category remained at 37.5 nmol/L one month after the last race.

A cinco siglos de la introducción de la paloma de Castilla (Columba livia Gmelin, 1789) en el Perú

“…En Costa Rica se ha identificado a Buteo plagiatus (gavilán gris) como uno de los depredadores, por lo que la permanencia de estas especies resulta de importancia para mantener la regulación de algunos grupos de vertebrados (Ramírez-Alan et al 2017). Y también sufren de infecciones por circovirus (Kastelic et al 2021).…”

Comparison of Cortisol Concentrations in Different Matrices in Alpine Ibex (Capra ibex) at the Zoo

“…Concentrations of C were measured in serum (three different procedures: V, K, L), saliva, hair, urine and tears, and faecal glucocorticoid metabolite (FGCM) concentration was measured in faeces, using the commercial enzyme immunoassay Cortisol ELISA (Demeditec Diagnostics GmbH, Kiel, Germany) according to the manufacturer's instructions and validated as described previously [10,30,43,44].…”

“…Strategies related to the health status, control of feed quality, successful reproduction, adequate social group structure, and welfare of individual animals in captivity must be ensured [7,8]. The introduction of non-invasive sampling procedures, whether to diagnose disease [9] or for the measurement of stress hormone levels [10], is an important animal welfare strategy, and should be integrated into zoo management.…”