Significance of Lead Residues in Mallard Tissues, 1974 (Classic Reprint) - Hardcover

Longcore, J. R.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0366388444 ISBN 13: 9780366388448

Publisher: Forgotten Books, 2018

Synopsis

Excerpt from Significance of Lead Residues in Mallard Tissues, 1974

One hundred 4 - month-old drake mallards were force-fed one number 4 size lead buckshot (about g) which had been preweighed to the nearest g. All birds were weighed and banded before dosing. Ducks were held in groups of 20 in five x m gravel-based pens. Two additional ducks were placed in each of the five pens to serve as controls. Whole kernel corn was supplied ad libitum in sheltered feeders. Water was available in 946 liter fiber glass troughs.

Twenty experimental ducks from one randomly chosen pen were selected to provide samples of ducks that died of poisoning. The live ducks in the other four pens were sacrificed for comparisons with those that actually died.

Earlier studies of lead poisoning indicated that two or more ducks would die on the same day. We scheduled our sampling at 2-day intervals when we collected two dead ducks and two live ducks (which were sacrificed). In three instances, to fulfill the two-bird complement for dead ducks, we substituted a bird that died either the day before or day after the scheduled sampling day. Two of the 20 experimental ducks voided the shot, limiting analysis to 18 birds. Deaths began 4 days after dosing and continued for 20 days.

Sampling began the fourth day after dosing and continued until 18 ducks were killed. Each duck to be sacrificed was fluoroscoped first to ensure that it had actually retained the shot; only ducks retaining shot were used. All pens were checked daily for dead birds.

Ducks randomly selected for sacrifice were asphyxiated with carbon dioxide and all ducks were frozen until necropsy. At necropsy, the following organs and tissues were removed, weighed, and refrozen to await chemical analysis: brain, liver, kidney, tibia, gallbladder, breast muscle, lung, spleen, pancreas, heart, and blood clot from heart.

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Edition details

• Publisher: Forgotten Books
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0366388444
• ISBN 13: 9780366388448
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 32