Prevalence of Chewing Lice in Free-Range Chickens From Selected Rural Localities of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

The prevalence of chewing lice from four randomly selected rural localities in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, was carried out. Goniocotes gigas, Menopon gallinae, Goniodes gigas, Lipeurus caponis, and Cuclogaster heterographus were record-ed, and the most prevalent species across the four localities was Menopon gallinae, with a mean prevalence of (96.8 %) followed by Goniocotes gallinae (57.0 %) and Goniodes gigas (56.4 %). Cuclogaster heterographus and L. caponis recorded low prevalences of 22.2 % and 13.1 % respectively. Shongweni (SH) and Mvoti (MV) recorded one bird each with no infestation, whilst all birds from Maphumulo (MP) and Port Shepstone (PS) were infested. Multiple lice species infestation (3 or more species/bird) ranged from 33.3-63.3% across the 4 localities.