Seasonality of parasitism in free range chickens from a selected ward of a rural district in Zimbabwe

摘要

A study to investigate the intensity of ectoparasites and gastro-intestinal tract worms of chickens in winter and summer was conducted in Ward 28 of Murehwa District in Zimbabwe. Sixty chickens given to local farmers to rear under the free-range system were examined for parasites; 30 in summer of 2009 and the other 30 in winter of 2010. In both seasons, ectoparasites collected were?Argas persicus,?Echidnophaga gallinacea,?Dermanyssus gallinae?and?Cnemidocoptes?mutans. The intensities of?A. persicus?(t= 2.54, p= 0.012) and?E. gallinacea?(t= 4.146, p= 0.000) were significantly higher in summer. There was no significant difference in seasonal intensity of?D. gallinae?(t= 0.631, p= 0.532) and?C. mutans?(t= 0.024, p= 0.978). The intensity of the nematode,?Ascaridia galli?(t= 3.889, p= 0.001) and the cestode,?Choataenia infundibulum(t= 3.286, p= 0.004) were significantly higher in summer. There were no significant differences in the intensities of?Allodapa suctoria?(t= 0.031, p= 0.971),?Heterakis gallinarum?(t= 1.176, p= 0.248),?Capillaria obsignata?(t= 0.141, p= 0.890),?Tetrameres americana?(t= 0.514, p= 0.603),?Hymenolepis?spp. (t= 0.770, p= 0.464) and?Amoebotaenia cuneata?(t= 0.569, p= 0.579). Chickens were generally parasitised in Murehwa District. There is need to intensify parasite prevention and control, but more specifically, the control of?A. persicus,?E. gallinacea,?A. galli?and?C. infundibulum?in summer.