Effect on Acceptability and Fecundity to Pigeons of Coating SC 12937 Bait with Zein or Ethocel

• Published in: The Journal of wildlife management 1970-10, Vol.34 (4), p.776-782
• Main Authors: Sturtevant, Joan, Wentworth, B. C.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Birds; Coatings; Corn; Eggs; Fecundity; Female animals; Food; Hematocrit; Liver; Pigeons
• ISSN: 0022-541X; 1937-2817
• DOI: 10.2307/3799143

Pigeons (Columba livia) fed 0.1 percent SC 12937-treated corn coated with Zein or Ethocel over a 10-day period ate only about one-half that eaten by birds fed untreated corn. Dosage was approximately 0.16 gm SC 12937 per bird. When offered a choice between treated corn coated with Zein and corn that had not been treated or coated, the average daily intake per pair was only 2.3 gm of the treated Zein-coated corn but 44.5 gm of the control corn. The maximum weight loss in the pigeons, due to bait refusal, during the 10-day treatment period was 28 percent. Results of blood analyses and fecundity data support the findings of other researchers that SC 12937 is a debilitating agent rather than a chemosterilant. Transaminase and buffy layer values of treated birds increased during treatment and remained high for most of the 160-day experiment period. Depressed fertility occurred for 3 months in the Zein group and 5 months in the Ethocel group, while fertility of pigeons with a choice of food was normal. Mean clutch size was not depressed in any group, but number of one-egg clutches increased during the first 4 months in the Zein group. Four treated birds died during the experiment; at autopsy, internal anatomical abnormalities were found in the majority of Zein and Ethocel group birds. Neither Zein nor Ethocel coating increased acceptability of SC 12937-treated corn by pigeons, and pigeons with no choice of food other than SC 12937-treated corn become physically debilitated, thereby reducing reproductivity.