| dc.description.abstract | Ectoparasitism is an important factor associated with poor production of village indigenous chickens. A
cross-sectional study was carried out to determine the prevalence of ectoparasites in free ranging
indigenous chicken from two different agro-ecological zones: Lower highland 1 (LH1) in Embu
District and Lower midland 5 (LM5) in Mbeere District, Kenya. A total of 144 chickens of matched
age (chicks, growers and adults) and sex groups were examined for the presence of ectoparasites. Of
these, 138 (95.8%) had one or more types of ectoparasites, namely; lice, mites, fleas and soft ticks.
One thirty one birds had lice, 107 mites, 42 sticktight fleas and 8 had soft ticks. Of the 138 infested
birds, 25 had single while 113 had mixed infestations. Lice were the most prevalent parasites. The
study documents Epidermoptes species, Laminosioptes cysticola and Megninia species for the first time
in Africa as well as Lipeurus caponis and Goniodes gigas in Kenya. All adult birds were infected with
ectoparasites followed by 97.7% grower and 89.6% chicks. Both male and female birds had same
prevalence (95.8%) of ectoparasites. Lower midland 5 had a slightly higher prevalence of ectoparasites
(98.6%) compared to LH1 (93.1%) though not statistically significant. Parasite intensity was
significantly different among age groups of chicken and between agro-ecological zones (p<0.05), but
not between sexes of birds (p>0.05).
Because of the high prevalence of ectoparasites revealed by this study, it is imperative that integrated
control strategies need to be put in place to improve chicken productivity and enhance smallholder
livelihood in these areas. | en |
