Local Pigeon Research Articles

PRODUCTIVITY, REPEATABILITY OF PRODUCTIVE AND REPRODUCTIVE TRAITS OF LOCAL PIGEON

The purpose of this study was to know productivity and repeatability of local pigeon. Data werecollected from 124 birds that reared under intensive management. The results showed that artificial pairwas 100% and polygamy was 16% (n=62 pair of pigeon). The ration of local pigeon consisting of 50%corn+50% of commercial feed for starter broiler chicken can be applied in field. The average of eggproduction was 1.8 eggs/pair/period, egg weight was 17.7 g, fertility was 96.6%, hatching rate was 77%,embryo mortality rate was 23%, interval period from laying to hatching and suckling was 51 days, 31.4days with hatching, and 17.6 days without hatching and suckling. The day old pigeon weight ranged10.9-16.2 g. Repeatability value of productive traits was high, in which egg weight was 0.64 and day oldpigeon weight was 0.737. Repeatability of reproductive traits was low, that was fertility and hatchabilitywas 0.12 and 0.048, respectively). The squab weight increased from week 0 to 4, then decreased in theweek 5. The growth rate was highest at the week 1, then decreased from the week 2 to 5 with thenegative growth rate occur at the 5th week. The squab growth rate followed a quadratic pattern. It wasconcluded that slaughter squab selection could be done at 4th week old.

Characterisation of the local pigeon in South Western Nigeria

Characterisation of the local pigeon in South Western Nigeria

Comparative study of using thiopentone sodium –ketamine– chloral hydrate mixture and ketamine– chloral hydrate mixture as a general anesthetics in local pigeons

This study aimed to use two kinds of mixtures of general anesthetics to know which is betterfrom induction of anesthesia and anesthesia period and their effect of some essential parameters inanesthesia like temperature, pulse, and respiration.Twenty birds of local pigeons were selected then devided into two groups.The first group treatedwith thiopentone sodium –ketamine–chloral hydrate mixture , other group treated with –ketamine–chloral hydrate mixture

Pigeon homing: sun compass use in the southern hemisphere

Although the sun compass of birds is based on learning the sun's arc during development, it was unclear whether birds can use the sun when its apparent movement is reversed, in particular, whether northern birds that have been introduced into the southern hemisphere can use the southern sun. To answer this question, clock-shift experiments were performed with local homing pigeons in Auckland, New Zealand (37°S). In three fast-shift tests and two slow-shift tests, the experimental birds showed deflections from the untreated controls that were the mirror images of those observed in the northern hemisphere. These results clearly show that homing pigeons in New Zealand use a sun compass that is adapted to the situation in the southern hemisphere. The learning processes establishing the compensation mechanisms thus appear to be free of constraints concerning the direction of the sun's movement. Differences from recent findings with migratory birds, where the direction of celestial rotation proved of crucial importance for establishing the migratory direction, are discussed: the differences may arise from the different orientation tasks, in particular, from the involvement of innate information in establishing the migratory direction.

Measurement of inducible proteins improves the precision of the local pigeon crop-sac bioassay for prolactin

The pigeon crop-sac is a well-known target organ of prolactin (PRL). Pukac and Horseman ( Endocrinology 114: 1718, 1984) reported that injections of the hormone caused changes in the expression of several specific proteins in that organ. We investigated the possibility that measuring the amounts of three of these proteins might improve the precision of the local pigeon crop-sac assay to PRL. Pigeons were given four injections of phosphate-buffered saline or different doses of ovine (o) PRL for 2 days and were killed on day 3. The DNA and total protein content of their crop-sac mucosal epithelial cells were measured and a supernatant of homogenized epithelial cells was processed by SDS-PAGE. The amounts of the three specific proteins in the stained gels were measured by densitometry. Treatment with oPRL increased the concentration of two of these proteins in the crop mucosal tissue (CP 14 and CP 25) and decreased that of the third one (CP 17). Measurement of total protein or of changes in the individual protein bands gave dose-response relationships with poor indices of precision (λ>0.3). Measurement of DNA content gave an assay endpoint with a reasonably good λ value (0.16) but when the changes in the amounts of CP 14 and CP 25 were expressed as ratios to the changes occurring in CP 17, very precise assay endpoints ( λ=0.06−0.08) were obtained.

Pigeon breeders' lung—the effect of loft litter materials on airborne particles and antigens

An Andersen sampler was used to collect different sized fractions of airborne dust within pigeon lofts. Antigens associated with pigeon breeders' lung were then measured using an ELISA technique. Levels of soluble antigen in the 0.5-5 microns range correlated significantly with airborne particle concentrations in the same range, determined by particle size analysis. However, antigenic material was not soley confined to the 0.5-5 microns fraction and was detected in particles up to 11 microns in diameter. Using both particle size analysis and ELISA in local pigeon lofts revealed significantly increased particles (up to x 50) and antigens (up to x 10) in some lofts employing litter materials to dehydrate voided pigeon droppings, compared with lofts cleaned regularly with no litter agent. Paradoxically, ventilation did not influence particle or antigen concentrations under static conditions or during loft cleaning. The settling rate of loft dusts correlated significantly with that of the litter used, suggesting litter particles were a carrier for soluble pigeon dropping components, but differences in particle numbers generated from the litters and litter/dropping combinations showed that an interaction between voided droppings and litter agents had occurred. A change from litter systems to regular cleaning was undertaken in two lofts, resulting in a marked decrease in respirable particles and antigens.

Prolactin directly stimulates the liver in vivo to secrete a factor (synlactin) which acts synergistically with the hormone.

Recent studies in our laboratory indicated that the liver of rats, mice, and pigeons secretes a PRL-synergizing activity (synlactin) in vitro. Accordingly, we investigated whether PRL and/or GH could stimulate the secretion of synlactin by the pigeon liver or kidney. Young birds received twice daily injections of PBS, ovine (o) PRL, or oGH for 5 days. On the sixth day, their livers and kidneys were removed, and slices of these organs were incubated in medium 199 for 4 h. The medium samples were filtered and diluted, then tested for PRL-like activity and synlactin activity in the local pigeon crop-sac bioassay. The latter test involved adding a dose of 1.0 microgram oPRL to the medium samples. None of the liver or kidney medium samples had PRL-like activity when tested alone. Only the liver incubation medium from the PRL-injected pigeons contained significant amounts of synlactin activity. Our next experiment was designed to determine whether PRL stimulation of hepatic secretion of synlactin involved a direct action of the hormone on the liver in vivo. A catheter attached to a coil of tubing and an osmotic minipump was inserted into an intestinal vein of pigeons, and the pump and coil were left in the abdomen. By this means, solvent, or GH or PRL in solvent, was pulse infused (four pulses of 2 h each per day) into the intestinal venous drainage. Thus, the hormones were delivered directly to the liver via the hepatic portal vein. During the last 3 of the 7 days of infusion, the pigeons received two daily injections of PBS or oPRL over the contralateral lobes of the crop-sac. Intrahepatic infusion of PRL, but not GH, caused a marked augmentation of the response of the crop to local injections of PRL. Pulse infusion of the same dose of oPRL into the external jugular vein of pigeons did not have this effect; hence, it appears to be mediated by the liver. These results indicate that one of the actions of PRL on the liver is to stimulate the secretion of a factor (synlactin) which acts synergistically with the hormone to promote growth of its target organs.

A PIGEON CROP SAC RADIORECEPTOR ASSAY FOR PROLACTIN

Ovine prolactin, labelled with 125I by either lactoperoxidase or a mild chloramine T method, bound to receptors from the pigeon crop sac mucosa cells of prolactin-injected pigeons. Binding was demonstrated in a crude homogenate of mucosal cells removed from the crop by scraping and in a subcellular fraction in which 5'-nucleotidase activity was enhanced two- to threefold. The binding was specific, dependent on time, temperature and the concentration of receptors and had a dissociation constant of 7 X 10(-10) mol/l. The binding capacity of the crop tissue was 71 fmol/mg membrane protein. Nine purified preparations of prolactin from four species were assayed by local pigeon crop sac bioassay and by radioreceptor assay. The two methods were highly correlated (r = 0.934). The regression equation was radioreceptor assay = 1.22 bioassay--0.18 indicating a 1 : 1 correspondence between the two methods for prolactin purified from sheep, rat, horse and pig anterior pituitary glands.

Preparation of bio- and immunoactive human prolactin in milligram amounts from amniotic fluid in 60% yield.

Bio- and immunoactive human prolactin (hPRL) was isolated from amniotic fluid. The overall yield is a single passage through the procedure was 60%; 5 liters of amniotic fluid (10 mg hPRL) yielded 3 mg (30%) of a mixture of hPRL isohormones A, B (both minor), C and D (both major), and less than 10% contamination with extraneous protein. A further 3 mg hPRL was less highly purified. Two mg hPRL was recycled. The product has been stable for at least 1 year at--70 C, suitable for iodination, and gave rise to RIA dose-response curves indistinguishable from those obtained with pituitary hPRL. The isolated hormone, after stoichiometric iodination, is active in binding to both mammary gland and liver cell membrane receptors and exhibits a biological activity, in the local pigeon crop-sac assay, of 47.3 +/- 6.1 IU/mg. The isolation procedure consisted of 3 steps: 1) hollow-fiber dialysis to concentrate amniotic fluid; 2) gel filtration on Sephadex G-50 to remove bulk contaminants; 3)isoelectric focusing in a density gradient, taking advantage of the elevated isoelectric points, relative to contaminants, of hPRL isohormones (6.0-6.5, corrected). Production of this preparation, carried out on two separate occasions, required each time 3 months of a single investigator's time, inclusive of assay work.

SUBNORMAL GROWTH HORMONE (GH) LEVELS WITH NORMAL GROWTH

4 children with a pituitary or hypothalamic tumor were studied. 3 of them underwent surgery, post-operatively a growth-spurt followed by normal growth as observed. One of these patients showed an excessive weight gain. The fourth patient in whom the tumor was not removed had a normal growth rate as well. In all 4 patients endocrine evaluation revealed varying degrees of anterior and posterior pituitary insufficiency. Peak CH levels following various stimuli were extremely low in all patients. Prolactin activity in serum as measured by a local pigeon crop assay was elevated in one patient only. In all patients the serum activity of somatomedin was determined by bioassay, serum levels of insulin were measured by RIA during stimulation tests. Our findings suggest that a biological substance other than GH might have induced somatomedin generation in these patients. Supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, SFB 34

INKUBATIONSVERSUCHE MIT EINEM ANTIHUMAN-PROLAKTIN

ABSTRACT Prolactin levels were found in human plasma during physiological and pathological lactation. The biological activity was measured by means of a modified method of the local pigeon crop test by Grosvenor & Turner (1958). The biological activity found in these cases could be neutralized by an antihuman prolactin. This antibody which was not purified by incubation against the serum of hypophysectomized women was received by immunization of rabbits with a prolactin extract of human pituitaries without any albumin contaminations. These experiments may show that the biological prolactin activity containing in the hypophyseal extracts is not an artefact of the extraction procedure. The high plasma-prolactin concentration in pathological lactation without any acromegalic symptoms could be a further argument for the hypothesis that also in man prolactin and growth hormone could be isolated proteohormones.

PROLAKTIN-KONZENTRATIONEN IM MENSCHLICHEN PLASMA WÄHREND SCHWANGERSCHAFT UND WOCHENBETT

ABSTRACT Plasma prolactin concentrations were measured during pregnancy by the local pigeon crop test. The levels were between 0 and 3 IU/100 ml plasma up to the 24th week of gestation. There was no elevation of the prolactin plasma levels between the 24th week and the 40th of gestation. The prolactin concentration during the second half of pregnancy ranged between 2 and 7 IU/100 ml plasma. It was suggested that the biological prolactin activity measured during pregnancy is not identical either with the human growth hormone or with the placental lactogen hormone. A calculation comparing the levels of HCG and placental lactogen excluded in the authors' opinion the identity of those hormones with the biological prolactin activity. The prolactin concentration decreased in the plasma during labour and increased in the following 4 days post partum. After this post partum peak the plasma prolactin concentration fell to a value below 1 IU/100 ml plasma. In the late puerperium – 4 to 6 weeks after delivery – it was possible to measure plasma prolactin levels in women with a normal lactation around a mean value of only 1 IU/100 ml. Obviously prolactin does not play an important role for the maintenance of lactation whereas the striking rise of the plasma prolactin concentration in the following 4 days post partum could mean a possible function for the initiation of lactation.

Radioimmunoassay of rat prolactin: Comparison of rat prolactin preparations isolated from the ‘granular fraction’ of pituitary tumour transplants and from normal pituitary glands

The performance in various procedures for radioimmunoassay of a rat prolactin preparation isolated from the ‘granular fraction’ of transplants of prolactin-producing pituitary tumours is compared to that of a prolactin preparation isolated from pooled frozen normal pituitary glands. Antisera titration curves and competitive inhibition curves indicate that the two preparations resemble each other closely. Analysis of covariance of competitive inhibition curves indicates that the small differences observed between the two preparations in recent assays can be ascribed to experimental error. Not withstanding a marked difference in biological activity between the two preparations as measured by the local pigeon crop assay, the reported experiments indicate that radioimmunoassays based on either of the two preparations will give approximately the same values when the prolactin estimates in biological material are expressed in unit weight aequivalents of the preparation employed. Expression in unit weight aequivalents should therefore be preferred to an extrapolation from these to i.u. of biological prolactin activity.

Preliminary observations on prolactin activity in human blood.

ABSTRACT Prolactin activity of human whole blood was concentrated by means of acid acetone extracts, using the Sulman method for the extraction of chromatophorotropic activity. These extracts were assayed by a single-injection local pigeon crop-weight technique. No prolactin activity was found in extracts obtained from the blood of children, of normal young men, and of normal young women in the first half of the menstrual cycle. On the other hand, extracts obtained from the blood (equivalent to 2.5 ml. whole blood) of young women in the second half of the menstrual cycle induced crop-weight responses of the same order of magnitude as induced by 0.05 I.U. of authentic prolactin, and activity greater than this was found in extracts obtained from the blood of lactating postpartum women. These observations constitute physiologic evidence that prolactin activity was measured, since prolactin activity was found only in those circumstances that would be expected on the basis of the known physiologic activity of ...

Studies of Prolactin in the Fowl Pituitary. II. Effects of Genetic Constitution With Respect to Broodiness on Prolactin Content

Broodiness was induced in laying fowls of broody races by the injection of prolactin, by Riddle, Bates, and Lahr.1 After prolactin injections laying fowl of non-broody races and males of a broody race became only partially broody, usually clucking without nesting. Burrows and Byerly2 showed that pituitaries from broody fowl have a much greater prolactin content than those from laying fowl and from males, as judged by local pigeon crop-gland response to pituitary implantation.The present work was undertaken to determine the relative potency of fowl pituitaries with respect to genetic constitution of the fowls. White King pigeons of 8-10 weeks conception age were used as recipients for the fowl pituitaries. The local implantation technique of Lyons as described by McQueen-Williams3 was used. The crop-gland responses were recorded as “plus” when any visible stimulation was obtained, “2 plus” when the stimulation was roughly twice the minimal visible response, and so on.Crossbred females were used in their se...