The chronic toxicity of methiocarb to grackles, doves, and quail and reproductive effect in quail.

Methiocarb (4-methylthio-3, 5-xylyl N-methyl carbamate, Mesurol, Bay (3744), a bird repellent, was fed in concentrations of 100 to 1,000 ppm to common grackles (Quiscalus quiscula), mourning doves (Zenaida macroura), and breeding pairs of coturnix quail (Coturnix coturnix) to investigate the possibility of cumulative intoxication. Although aversion to treated diets was readily apparent in most of the tests, the 28- to 30-day median lethal concentration (LC50) was determined to be greater than 100 ppm for grackles, 630 ppm (95% confidence limits, 480-830 ppm) for doves, and greater than 1,000 ppm for coturnix quail. Methiocarb appeared to be noncumulative when measured by an index of chronicity: birds consumed several LD50 doses during a day's feeding, and when deaths occurred, they appeared to be due to acute intoxication. Egg production and live chick production were not affected in coturnix fed 100 ppm but were reduced at 316 and 1,000 ppm.

The effects of subacute and chronic exposure to 4-aminopyridine on reproduction in coturnix quail.

When male and female coturnix quail (Coturnix coturnix) were given a single subacute oral dose (5.62 mg/kg) of the avian frightening agent 4-aminopyridine (4AP) and paired with untreated mates, there was no effect on the reproductive performance of males; egg production of females was reduced the third week after treatment but recovered during the fourth week. Chronic exposure to 31.6, 100, and 316 ppm of 4AP in the diet of mated pairs did not affect reproductive performance during or after the 4- or 6-week period the chemical was fed, but no birds fed 1,000 ppm produced live chicks after treatment began and all died within 3 weeks. The 28-day LC50 of 4AP was determined to be 447 ppm for male coturnix and 562 ppm for females. F1 progeny from quail fed 31.6, 100, and 316 ppm 4AP and randomly mated at maturity showed no reproductive effects from their parents' exposure.