Ecto-parasites of Domestic Chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) in Gwagwalada Area Council, Abuja, Nigeria-West Africa

Ectoparasites are generally considered as the primary cause of poor health conditions, growth retardations and decrease in production in local chickens in Nigeria. However, there is no data on the prevalence of the common ectoparasites of chickens in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria. In this study, a preliminary survey was conducted on the common ectoparasites on local chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) in Gwagwalada Area Council, Abuja. Collection and identification of the ectoparasites were undertaken from the five selected areas of Gwagwalada between the months of September and November, 2014 (Hot rainy season). All visible individual ectoparasites were collected from 250 local chickens with 20% of the total sample size being randomly selected from each of the five areas viz Phases 1, 2 & 3, Dagiri, Kuje Road, Passo and Gwagwalada market (raised in cages) whilst all other chickens were from free range. The prevalence of ectoparasites was significantly higher in Gwagwalada market and was significantly associated with higher infestation rate (P<0.05). The overall prevalence of ectoparasitic infestation from a total of 327 birds was found to be 75.85%. Of this figure, 218 (87.90%) were infested with various species of lice (Menacanthus stramineus, Goniocotes gigas, Lipeurus caponis, and Goniodes meleagridis) while 18(7.26%) were infested with mites (Knemidocoptes mutans) and 12(4.84%) were infested with fleas (Echidnophaga gallinacea). Effective ectoparasitic control programs should be formulated and implemented in the Gwagwalada Area Council and the entire Federal Capital Territory in order to boost local chicken production. This study has implication on the fulfillment of human protein nutritional requirement