Prevalence and identification of ectoparasites on indigenous chickens in Seharti-Samre District, Tigray, Northern Ethiopia

A cross sectional study was conducted from February 2014 to February 2015 to estimate the prevalence of ectoparasites and to assess risk factors in indigenous free scavenging chickens in three sub-districts of Seharti-Samre District, northern Ethiopia. Physical examination, hand picking for visible parasites, skin scraping and laboratory based identification of collected parasites were employed on systematically selected 570 indigenous chickens. An overall prevalence of 68.6% (391/570) ectoparasites with a specific prevalence of 44% (251/570), 14.4% (82/570) and 10.2% (58/570) for Echidnophaga gallinacea , Argus persicus and mixed infestations, respectively were recorded. Prevalence of A. persicus , E. gallinacea and mixed infestation showed statistically significant variation between seasons (OR=2.21, 95%, CI=1.539-3.178), housing in kitchen (OR=3.33,95%, CI=2.0228-5.486) and main house (OR=3.19, 95%, CI=1.910-5.304); age group of birds. The odds of ectoparasites infestation were 3.42 and 7.57 times higher for chick and adults compared with the growers. The current study indicated high prevalence of ectoparasites in backyard poultry management system in the study area. E.gallinacea was found to be the most prevalent ectoparasites identified followed by A. persicus . Designing and implementation of appropriate ectoparasite control measures seems mandatory in order to mitigate economical losses due to ectoparasite infestation. Keywords: Backyard; Ectoparasites; Poultry; Prevalence; Sehart-samre