International Research Journal of Environment Sciences________________________________ ISSN 2319–1414Vol. 4(4), 26-29, April (2015) Int. Res. J. Environment Sci. International Science Congress Association 26 Influence of Food grains on the Growth of Pigeon (Columba livia), Periyakulam, Theni District, Tamil Nadu, IndiaThamaraiselvi V.P. and Nirmala TPG and Research Center of Zoology Jayaraj Annapackiam College for Women, Periyakulam, Tamil Nadu, INDIAAvailable online at: www.isca.in, www.isca.me Received 21st February 2015, revised 22nd March 2015, accepted 7th April 2015 Abstract Genetic trait and management influences the growth of the birds. Three pairs of Columba livia bird species were studied at the age of 4 weeks. These experimental birds were in a separate cage and fed on Millet, Ragi and Corn for six months. Weight gain takes place in Corn fed female C. livia. Highest growth was observed in the female C. livia fed on Corn and the lowest in male C. livia fed on Millet. Food ConsumptionFood Assimilation, Food Conversion, Food Metabolized, Feeding Rate, Conversion Rate, Assimilation Efficiency, Gross conversion and Efficiency Net Efficiency also high in January and low in June. Keywords: Columba livia, millet, ragi, corn, food and growth. Introduction Birds play an important role in agriculture by feeding on insects, rodents, pests of crops help in the dispersal of seeds and cross pollination in the flowers of many plant species. The granivorous and omnivorous are helpful to man by increasing agricultural production by means of eating up the insects and rodent pest of crops. There are about 1200 species of birds in the Indian subcontinent at least 150 of them are reported to feed on seeds and fruits of different crops. The insectivorous and carnivorous species are considered to be useful to agriculture since they keep a very potent check on population of insects and rodent pests of crops. Columba livia, the domesticated amongst all the birds from the ancient daysThey have been used to carry messages and they res used as food source, sport, aviary specimen and as household pets. Columba livia has had a long and colorful history in the service of man. Earliest records indicate that man had a deep interest in the breeding of Pigeons. Mans efforts at breeding and selection soon gave him Pigeons with different colors, shapes, sizes and abilities. Columba livia have been widely used to carry messages, especially in times of war. They are employed in rescue work and have been used to carry messages from ships to nearby land areas. Pigeons have been used by “underground” movements and persons engaged in submersive activities where other forms of communication could be traced. Pigeons have been one of man’s closest associate for more than 4,000 years. They perform many useful functions. In addition, they have many qualities that make them useful for laboratory and research purposes. Some of the varieties of Columba livia have been selected for fancy colors. Columba livia readily adapt them to living under a great variety of conditions. Their diet is simple. Columba livia are commonly found in areas having old and new buildings, bridges, roadsides, old towns, paved areas, parks, gardens, farmyards, grain elevators, feed mills and in agricultural fields, in all these places they vary in size, shape and condition to provide suitable habitat for the Pigeon. The population of the Pigeon has increacd because of the availability of food by human source and seasonally. Food consumption is about one-tenth of the Columba livia body weight and will range from 20-100 g daily, depending on the strain. Under laboratory conditions, particularly for small number of caged birds, the feeding of a pelleted Pigeon feed (readily available commercially) is by far the most satisfactory procedure to follow. Sturtevant and Hollander, 1978 also suggested that vitamin-mineral supplement is usually also fed, but granite grit is not essential with pelleted rations, although oyster shell must be provided for breeders. The periodic feeding of some mixed whole grain is said to be good practice, in order to exercise the gizzard7-10. Columba livia have excellent visual capabilities, which is why there’re particularly used for investigations of visual, categorization processes11. As pigeons have sophisticated colour vision, they may use colour cues for discrimination of ‘good’ foods12. Columba livia have more than four cone classes in their retina13, located at the back of the eye14-15. A low quality diet, poor in nutrients may reduce growth rates in the nestling stage of passerines16-17. Hence in the present investigation it is much more evident that there is little or no work has been done in recent years on the feeding and growth rate Columba livia. Therefore an attempt has been made to study the “Influence of food grains on the growth of Pigeon (Columba livia”. Methodology Biology of the Columba livia: Columba livia exhibit considerable variations in size. Columbia livia typically have a gray body with a whitish rump, two black bars on the secondary International Research Journal of Environment Sciences______________________________________________ ISSN 2319–1414 Vol. 4(4), 26-29, April (2015) Int. Res. J. Environment Sci. International Science Congress Association 27 wing feathers, a broad black band on the tail, and red feet. Body color can vary from gray to white, tan and black. The average weight is 13 ounces (369 g) and the average length is 11 inches (28 cm). Columba livia feeds on grains, seeds, small insects and the spilled foods. Require 30 ml of water daily. Experimental design: Columba livia bird species were selected for the study at the age of 4 weeks from a commercial farm at Madurai. The birds were kept in cages Length 60cm x Width 105cm x Height 75cm) with fiber bedding in access to Columba livia. The birds were fed on starter food and water. The enough water was kept for the birds in dishes in the cage. The water was changed every day to keep it fresh and clean. Initial weights, of the birds were taken using birds weighing balance. After they were introduced into separate iron cages, the feeding period of the experimental birds were observed for six months from January to June, 2014. The experimental birds were segregated as three pairs of Columba livia. Each pair of experimental birds in a separate cage was fed on Millet, Ragi and Corn. The feed was given to the birds at 7 am each day and was observed. The excreta and the unfed grains were collected each day and it is weighed to calculate the assimilation rate. Each month the birds were weighed to know the body mass gain fed on different grains. Statistical analysis: The results were subjected to statistical treatment for food consumption, assimilation conversion, metabolism, feeding rate, conversion rate, assimilation efficiency, net efficiency. The scheme of energy value is expressed by the following IBP formula usually represented as C = P + R + F + U18. Results and Discussion The growth per weight in gram of Columba livia increased gradually during the study period. The heist growth in June in all the experimental birds fed on Millet, Ragi and Corn. In both the sexes, growth was high in the birds fed on Corn and low on Millet. Among the male and female of C. livia fed on Millet, the growth was high in the female bird species (table -1). Similar results were observed in the birds fed on Ragi and Corn, the female has the highest value than the male bird. Highest growth was observed in the female C. livia fed on Corn and the lowest growth was observed in male C. livia fed on Millet. Food Consumption: The food consumption was low in January and high in June. The food consumed by the birds increased, as there was increase in the days of feeding of both the bird species (figure-1). It may be due to the acclimatization of birds, seasonal changes and energetic reason as in the study of Harject et al.19 in parakeets. Similar observations were made by Karthiga20. In C. livia the food consumed was high in the birds fed on Ragi whereas it was low in the birds fed on Millet. C livia showed high food consumption of Ragi followed by Corn and Millet. Food Assimilation: The food Assimilation in C. livia was low in January and it was high in June (figure-2). In C. livia the assimilation was high with Ragi and low with Millet. All the three showed the highest value of assimilation in C. livia fed on Ragi Bhanja et al.21 and Karthiga20 studied that Millet coriander leaf was highly preferred and assimilated by the Love birds. They reported that by products which are cheap and plenty can be better utilized successfully in poultry as an energy source to replace costly ingredients. Food conversion: Food conversion of C. livia was observed and recorded each month and it showed increases of food conversion steadily during the study period (figure-3). The food conversion of C. livia was high with Corn and low with Ragi. Food consumption and assimilation of C. livia was whereas high in high with Ragi, the conversion was low with Ragi. These values were in agreement with those given by Makarajothi22. Table-1 Weight gain in grams male and female Columba livia in different grains fromJanuary to June 2014 Months Millet Ragi Corn Male Female Male Female Male Female Initial Weight 42 39 45 40 47 44 January 68 70 70 71 72 74 February 88 90 92 93 95 98 March 120 130 130 132 136 148 April 165 161 160 160 174 180 May 205 210 224 232 238 243 Ju ne 222 228 239 244 243 255 5001000150020002500Food Consumption in Grams JanFebMarAprMay JuneMonth (2014) Millet Ragi Corn Figure-1 Food Consumption of C. livia on different food grains from January to June 2014 5001000150020002500Food Assimilation in Grams JanFebMarAprMay JuneMonth (2014) Millet Ragi Corn Figure-2 Food Assimilation of C. livia on different food grains from January to June 2014 50100150200250Food Conversion in Grams JanFebMarAprMay JuneMonth (2014) Millet Ragi Corn Figure-3 Food Conversion of C. livia on different food grains from January to June 2014 International Research Journal of Environment Sciences______________________________________________ ISSN 2319–1414 Vol. 4(4), 26-29, April (2015) Int. Res. J. Environment Sci. International Science Congress Association 28 Food Metabolism: Food metabolism was high in June and low in January with little difference between March and April and May and June. There was a steady increase from January to June in the C. livia (figure-4). The food metabolism was high in Ragi consumed by C. livia. In C. livia, though the food conversion was high in corn the metabolism was the lowest in Corn, the highest metabolism was observed in C. livia fed by Ragi. Compared with C. livia. Karthiga20 reported that metabolism was high in Millet – rice food but in this study it is in Corn followed by Ragi. Feeding rates observed that high metabolic rates of caged starlings Jeifer et al.23. Feeding Rate: Feeding rate gradually increased from January to June. High feeding rate was recorded in June and low feeding rate was observed in January (figure-5). C. livia preferred Ragi more than Millet and Corn. The feeding rate was high in Ragi followed by Millet in C. livia and poor feeding was observed in Corn23, studied the feeding rate of caged starlings, the feeding rate of the birds increased as there was increase in days of feeding. Leising et al24 reported that C. livia preferred coloured foods as they have more than other foods. Conversion Rate: Conversion rate was high during the month of June and low in January. There was a steady increase of conversion exist in both the bird species (figure-7). The conversion rate of C. livia was high in Millet and less in Ragi. The pattern of weight gain values varied with the type of food supplied to the birds. Similar observations were found in the works of Stephenson et al.25, Makarajothi22 and Karthiga20. Guill and Washburn26, reported that the food Conversion rate varied with fluctuation in the outside temperature in broilers. Assimilation Rate: Figure-6 depicts the assimilation rate of C. livia and it was clearly evident that the assimilation rate was high in June and low in January.In C. livia the rate of assimilation was high in Millet and low in Corn. Though the feeding rate was high in Ragi fed C. livia, it showed a decreased value in the rate of Assimilation. Moreover, feeding rate as well as assimilation rate of C. livia fed on Corn showed the lowest value. Similar observations were found in the works of Stephenson et al.25. Growth of Indian River broiler chicks was significantly influenced by the type of food as in the study of Makarajothi22, where the growth was variable in different food. Assimilation Efficiency: The assimilation efficiency was high in June and low in January (figure-8). The highest assimilation efficiency was observed in Millet followed by Corn, and Ragi. The assimilation and conversion depend upon the nature of quantity and quality of food as in the study of Karthiga20. Gross Conversion Efficiency: Gross conversion efficiency in C. livia showed an increase from January to June (figure-9). In C. livia the gross conversion efficiency was high in Corn and low in Millet C. livia was in Corn andRagi was recorded as the lowest. The gross conversion efficiency depends upon the nature of temperature variation, as in the study made by Karthiga20. Net Conversion Efficiency: This may be due to the species difference and weight variation. Net Conversion Efficiency was low in Millet fed C. livia(figure-10).The highest net conversion efficiency recorded in Corn fed C. livia. Different feeding trials in chick, done by Makarajothi20, revealed the fact that body weight gain was positively and negatively correlated with food conversion, food metabolized, feeding rate, gross conversion, net conversion and assimilation efficiencies. 200400600800100012001400160018002000Food Metabolism in Grams JanFebMarAprMay JuneMonth (2014) Millet Ragi Corn Figure-4 Food Metabolism of C. livia on different food grains from January to June 2014 10203040506070Feeding Rate in Grams JanFebMarAprMay JuneMonth (2014) Millet Ragi Corn Figure-5 Feeding Rate of C. livia on different food grains from January to June 2014 10203040506070Assimilation Rate in Grams JanFebMarAprMay JuneMonth (2014) Millet Ragi Corn Figure-6 Assimilation Rate of C. livia on different food grains from January to June 2014 Conversion Rate in Grams JanFebMarAprMay JuneMonth (2014) Millet Ragi Corn Figure-7 Conversion Rate of C. livia on different food grains from January to June 2014 7580859095100 Assimilation Efficiency in Grams JanFebMarAprMay June MilletRagiCornMonth (2014) Figure-8 Assimilation Efficiency of C. livia on different food grains from January to June 2014 1015202530Gross Conversion Efficiency in Grams JanFebMarAprMay JuneMonth (2014) Millet Ragi Corn Figure-9 Gross Conversion Efficiency of C. livia on different food grains from January to June 2014 International Research Journal of Environment Sciences______________________________________________ ISSN 2319–1414 Vol. 4(4), 26-29, April (2015) Int. Res. J. Environment Sci. International Science Congress Association 29 1015202530Net Conversion Efficiency in Grams JanFebMarAprMay JuneMonth (2014) Millet Ragi Corn Figure-10 Net Conversion Efficiency of C. livia on different food grains from January to June 2014Conclusion It was observed that highest growth of Corn fed female C. liviaand it was low in Millet fed male bird species. The weight of the C. livia gradually increased from January to June. Food consumption, Food assimilation, Food metabolism, Feeding rate and Conversion rate also high in Ragi fed bird species. Gross conversion efficiency and Net conversion efficiency is gradually increased in all the food grains. Reference 1.Dhindsa M.S. and H.K Saini, Agricultural ornithology, An Indian Perspective, J. Bio. 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