Pidgeon Husbandry

PURPOSE

This Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) specifies general husbandry procedures used by the College of Charleston IACUP for routine maintenance of pigeons (Columba ssp) by the IACUP staff. Departures from these procedures will be permitted only when it is deemed by the Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee (IACUC) to be in the animal’s best interest, and then only on a case by case basis. These husbandry procedures are in compliance with the NRC Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and the Ornithological Council Guidelines to the Use of Wild Birds in Research. 

DEFINITIONS

Atmospheric assurance- air changes occur 10-15 times per hour.  Daily temperatures of animal housing rooms are kept between 64 and 79 degrees F (18-26 C) and relative humidity is kept between 30 - 70%.  Fluorescent lights maintain 12/12 on/off cycle.

Breeding- sexual propagation of animals.

Feeding- refers to ad libitum provisioning of food. 

Health examination- daily examination by IACUP staff regarding general health.

Husbandry- activities include but are not limited to feeding, watering, macroenvironment and microenvironment cleaning, breeding, health examination, atmospheric assurance, and light/dark cycles.       

Macroenvironment- space in which animal microenvironments are kept. 

Macroenvironment cleaning- refers to the sanitization of the animal housing rooms.  Washing walls, counter tops, sinks, floors, cage racks, and any other apparatuses located in the housing room. 

Microenvironment- physical environment that immediately surrounds the animal and is bounded by the primary enclosure or cage in which it resides. Minimum floor space for pigeon microenvironments is .8 square feet with cage height allowing the animal to stand erect with their feet on the floor.

Microenvironment cleaning- involves sanitization of animal housing, including cage washing, sterilization, and bedding changes.

Watering- refers to ad libitum provisioning of water.