NORMAL BLOOD-CHEMISTRY AND AGE-RELATED-CHANGES IN THE WHITE-BELLIED BUSTARD (EUPODOTIS-SENEGALENSIS), WITH SOME CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS

Blood samples were obtained from adult(>l year) and juvenile (4-8 week s, 9-16 weeks, 17-24 weeks) captive white-bellied bustards (Eupodotis senegalensis) to determine normal blood chemistry reference values and to study age-related changes. Twelve different tests were conducted u sing a Dupont Dimension wet chemistry analyser. A comparison of the va lues obtained was made between adult and juvenile whitebellied bustard s and from the literature with other bustard species. Significant diff erences between adult and juvenile bustards were found for glucose, ur ic acid, total protein, alkaline phosphatase, aspartate amino transfer ase, lactate dehydrogenase, magnesium and calcium. The results obtaine d from this study provide blood chemistry reference values for this sp ecies and demonstrate age-related differences between adult and juveni le birds.