'Study principles rather than methods. A mind that grasps principles can devise its own methods....' - B. Gill

In aviculture, 'success' usually is defined by the successful production of young. The production of viable offspring probably remains as the only fairly uniform goal of most avicultural efforts. Good productivity, when achieved, is traditionally assumed to represent good management efforts by the aviculturalist.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a common unifying concept as a foundation from which individual aviculturalists as well as avian veterinarians can approach avicultural productivity related concerns. The term chosen to describe this unifying concept is The Closed Aviary Concept.

The Closed Aviary Concept serves as perhaps the single most unifying theme in progressive psittacine aviculture(see 'References and Suggested Reading'). In the conceptually closed aviary, both clinical and subclinical disease are controlled and monitored through adherence to the basic principles of designated areas and controlled flow of human, animal and supplies traffic. This concept of traffic control is used to reduce avicultural variables during movements within individual designated areas of the aviary as well as within the aviary as a whole. Minimized variables should lead to reduced problems and maximized production goal attainment.

The conceptually closed aviary attempts to prevent the introduction of infectious disease or other disruptive problems before they occur in the facility. The closed aviary also controls traffic flow within the collection in a regimented manner to prevent spread of infectious disease or disruptive factors within the facility.

For the aviculturalist as well as the avian veterinarian, an in-depth understanding of the principles of the closed aviary concept is fundamental to success. Record systems that are generated and used in management are targeted for the designated areas within the closed aviary. These records are then used to help clarify and monitor potential problems or current management areas. A lack of control of human or bird movements entering and within the breeding facility will result in increased disease, impaired production and increased risk of failure to meet desired production goals.

The closed aviary, in this light, is best defined by the concepts and function that it is predicated and operating on. These concepts and functional aspects of the aviary hold valid regardless of specific management and structural design of the facility. Careful note should be made regarding the differences between these philosophies and the typical approach of the standardized or individual patient medicine. These differences serves to clarify and focus an avicultural medical management effort.

Fundamental Concepts of the Closed Aviary

Aviculture is farming

Farming, by definition, is productivity oriented animal stewardship. Many correlations can be drawn between the goals of the dairy, pork, poultry and beef industries and aviculture. The avicultural farm can vary immensely between individual owners, but still conceptually has all of the significant components of a farming operation. Where one farm may be a single breeding pair of macaws, the next may be a backyard aviary collection of macaws, the next may be an intensely monitored and maintained group of 450 pairs of large psittacines in a series of specifically designed and built breeding barns. If success is to be defined by degrees of productivity, aviculture must be viewed as productivity oriented avian stewardship, or "bird farming." This concept also includes avicultural efforts of non-psittacine bird species such as raptors, ratites, waterfowl, game birds, etc.

Productivity is the lifeblood of the farm

Farming is productivity oriented animal stewardship. The product from this investment and effort is what maintains the farm. Without production, numerous difficulties are experienced by the farm. Severe or continuous hardship will ultimately threaten the existence of the farm. Productivity, therefore, has the significant role of maintaining the life of the farm unit.

Time and cost must always be justified

Justification for time and cost in each avicultural effort varies immensely between individual owners. Regardless of the individual farm's manner of justification, there must always be thought applied to this concept. As we all know, neither money or human labor grows on trees. Physical time and expense invested in new management efforts must not compromise current maintenance efforts. Otherwise, ramifications from those distractions can pose a significant threat to the overall effectiveness of the farm.

The flock always takes precedence over the individual

Flock and herd health is oriented to the group rather than the individual. Individual diseased birds are still diagnosed and treated, but the emphasis is always carried towards prevention of the occurrence of the problem(s) in the future. Protection of the group from infectious or management-induced disease is always the primary concern in a farm. Widespread or recurring disease could endanger overall farm productivity, where individual birds do not alone pose this threat, but may represent the keynote birds of an infectious disease outbreak. No single bird can be prioritized ahead of the entire collection deemed at risk.

Culling and replacement are fundamental for improvement

The concept of culling and stock rotation is a fundamental part of any progressive animal production oriented operation. Exotic bird species should not be excluded from this basic animal production principle. Based on the individual aviculturalist's defined production parameters and criteria desired, those individual birds not meeting desired goals should be culled. Sale or physical removal from the breeding aviary, nursery, quarantine or isolation areas as well as destruction of certain individuals are properly included under the umbrella of culling. 'Culling' should not include relocation within the aviary or reevaluation to seek the link(s) barring successful production. When working with particularly rare or valuable species, culling should be a final management step when efforts to identify limiting factors to production have failed. These efforts may include infertility examinations, behavior analysis and management or husbandry changes.

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