Waterfowl anesthesia

Waterfowl are kept as pets and in zoological collections, are important within the poultry industry, and are hunted. Anesthesia can be used to facilitate handling during diagnostic procedures and during surgery. Studies of wild waterfowl rely commonly on radiotelemetry to provide accurate information on movements, habitat use, behavior, and survival. Waterfowl research involving the use of transmitters can necessitate the use of anesthetics, especially when the transmitters are intraabdominal. In captive or domestic waterfowl, hangover effects of anesthesia are not important, but in wild waterfowl, this becomes a concern. Reversal of sedation is desirable because suitable conditions for safe recovery may be impossible to provide for wild waterfowl. In this case, rapid recovery from anesthesia also is important to minimize stress, prevent pair bond disruption, and reduce detrimental effects of egg cooling while females are not incubating.