Some Physiological and Serum Biochemical Reference Values of Adult Chukar Partridge (Alectoris chukar Kurdestanica) in Kurdistan Region-Iraq

Abstract

The physiological parameters and blood biochemical parameters of wild Chukar partridges in the Sulaymaniyah Governorate of the Kurdistan Region-Iraq were measured in this study. During this research, 27 healthy Alectoris chukar partridges (9 males, 18 females), 8–12 months, were captured in the mountains of Penjwin district in the east of Sulaimani City from March to July 2022. Physiological parameters, including weight, heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR), and cloacal temperature (CT), were recorded for each partridge. Blood samples were collected from the jugular or wing vein to determine the serum biochemical parameters such as alanine transaminase levels, aspartate transaminase, blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, gamma-glutamyl transferase, total proteins, albumin, globulin, glucose, and total bilirubin. The males were significantly larger in weight (498.7 g) than the females (446.5 g). However, no significant differences were observed in the physiological parameters’ values between the sexes. Also, the serum biochemical parameters showed no sex-related differences between the sexes, except that the alanine transaminase level was significantly higher in the males (p < 0.05). The birds were released to their natural habitat after the studies were conducted. As a pioneer work, these physiological and serum biochemistry values may serve as a reference range of Chukar partridge in diagnostic procedures for both physiological and pathological conditions.