Blood Biochemical Profile of Young and Adult Racing Pigeons (Columba livia domestica) in Egypt

This study was conducted to determine the effect of age on blood biochemical profile of racing pigeons (Columba livia domestica) in Egypt. One hundred healthy racing pigeons of five different age groups (week old, 2 week old, 3 week old, 4 week old as young age and 30 week old as adult age) were used in this experiment. Blood values of packed cell volume (PCV), hemoglobin (Hb), differential leukocyte count, total protein, albumin, globulin, total lipids, total cholesterol, triglycerides, uric acid, creatinine, enzyme activity, electrolytes, glucose, triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxin (T4) were determined. The obtained results showed that all the biochemical variables changed with age. The adult birds had significantly (P ≤ 0.05) greater PCV, Hb, Basophils, Monocytes, Lymphocytes, total protein, albumin, globulin, uric acid, electrolytes, T3 and T4 than the young birds. Also, older pigeons had lower blood Eosinophils, heterophils, H/L ratio, total lipids, total cholesterol, triglycerides, AST, ALT, ALP, CK, creatinine and glucose than those of younger pigeons.