Continued from page 2Aviary design
The closed aviary should have its own anatomy, similar to the birds that live within it. Each aviary, if it is to be conceptually closed, must have designated areas for quarantine, breeding, nursery, and isolation. Each designated area should have a distinct and separate location in the entire breeding operation. The attending veterinarian as well as the aviculturalist must have these areas well understood and properly conceptualized. It is the rules regarding traffic flow between these areas that allows for managerial control and improved preventative management efforts. Without these areas clearly understood, progressive management is at best difficult and sporadic.
Design and Function of the Designated Areas
Quarantine
Quarantine is the designated area where newly arriving birds enter a facility. New arrivals to the facility do not leave quarantine until such time as they are deemed admissible to the breeding aviary collection. In this manner, quarantine serves to protect the breeding collection from the introduction of infectious disease risk. Physical segregation of newly arriving birds away from the remainder of the established group is the primary goal of the quarantine area. Properly quarantined birds provide the breeding aviary or collection with a more uniform population of birds - with more known fact about the birds and less unknown details. Those birds that fail to meet the preset criteria for entry to the breeding collection are not admitted. In this light, the significance of proper quarantine facilities and protocols is immense.
The designated quarantine area of a facility may be an entirely separate location, a separate building, or a separate room and still serve the functional requirements of the quarantine concept depending on the size of the individual facility. In some circumstances, multiple designated quarantine areas may be desirable or indicated within a single facility. The quarantine time frame recommended or required varies depending on the species being managed, facility constraints, the number of birds being brought in as well as the existing size of the collection deemed potentially at risk from infectious disease.
Breeding aviary
The breeding aviary is the designated area where the adult breeding birds are housed and maintained. In the conceptually closed aviary, the breeding area is the area with the lowest human and bird traffic flow. Focus is maintained on productivity management within the breeding aviary, and reproductive success is generally the desired product.
The breeding aviary may be at a separate location, placed in a separate building, or located in a separate room within the house. Multiple designated breeding areas may be present or desirable within a single facility.
In the breeding aviary, setup and design must be in such a manner so as to minimize stress and maximize production. Careful attention to detail in facility design and construction is important. Birds entering with a standardized health status, acclimatization, uniform dietary acceptance, and preestablished pair bonding, have had most of the potential breeding area stressors preeliminated by the quarantine protocols instituted. Unnecessary human traffic in the breeding facility poses potential stress to the birds. Traffic within the breeding aviary is strictly controlled. All external disruptive factors: human, animal, or other, are minimized in the breeding aviary. The greater the number of variables eliminated prior to entry to the breeding aviary, the greater the chances of productivity success.
Isolation
Isolation is the designated area where birds that have already been admitted to the collection through quarantine or on-site hatching are housed if they become ill or no longer meet the criteria that were required for admission to the breeding aviary or nursery. Adult birds from the breeding facility and chicks from the nursery should each have a separate isolation area. The isolation area includes the 'hospital' area by definition.
Adult birds or chicks that have been transferred to their respective isolation areas are deemed fit to return to the breeding aviary or nursery by meeting uniform entry requirements. This type of protocol allows for protection of the uniformity of the breeding collection, as well as protection from potential introduction of infectious disease.
Nursery
The nursery is the location where the young are hand fed and raised. These young represent the productivity of the breeding aviary as well as the primary desired product of the breeding facility. Young altricial birds such as macaws are environmentally and immunologically more vulnerable to lapses in management protocol and infectious disease. As such, attention to detail in nursery management tech unique and traffic flow control is important to minimize stress and reduce the risk of infectious disease introduction and transmission within the nursery.
Any breeding facility that does not have a clearly designated nursery area cannot hope to protect its young from infectious disease and outside stressors. Increased mortality and decreased productivity from the nursery is usually experienced in nurseries with poor conceptually closed design or nursery management techniques.
Summary
The closed aviary concept offers both the aviculturalist and the veterinarian an foundation to build on. In a conceptually closed facility, there is consistently adequate thought applied towards traffic control. Therefore, risk of infectious disease as well as other disruptive factors should be significantly reduced. Standardized medical and avicultural knowledge about breeder populations within the closed facility allows for more potential success in population management protocols. The specific management protocols recommended and structural design of each component of the closed aviary will vary significantly between facilities depending on the numerous outside variables. Consistent application of closed facility concepts, however, should always remain constant.
References and Suggested Reading
1. Speer BL: Avicultural Medical Management. In: Rosskopf WJ, and Woerpel, RW (eds): Veterinary Clinics of North America Small Animal Practice. Philadelphia, WB Saunders, 1991, pp 1393-1404.
2. Speer BL: Avicultural Productivity Management. In: Proceedings of the Seminar on Breeding Psittacines in Captivity. Emeryville, California 1989, pp 129-158.
3. Speer BL: How to Have More Chicks Than You Ever Dreamed Possible. In: Proceedings of the Aviculture Seminary. Association of Avian Veterinarians. Chicago, Illinois 1991, pp 1-12.
Brian L Speer, DVM About Brian L Speer, DVM
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