Prevalence of Ectoparasites Infestation in Poultry in Haramaya District, Eastern Hararghe Zone; Oromia Region, Ethiopia

The poultry industry has an important position in the provision of animal protein (meat and egg) to man and playsa vital role in the national economy as a source of revenue. Ectoparasites received little attention in almost all theproduction systems. Thus, the study was conducted in 2014 with the objectives to estimate prevalence and speciesof chicken ectoparasites, their predilection sites and to assess potential risk factors associated with their infestation.The present study shows that the prevalence of various ectoparasites in both local and exotic chicken that arereared under both extensive and semi intensive management systems, in eastern Hararghe, Haramaya district. Thedirect stereomicroscopic identification of poultry ectoparasites identified five species of parasites belonging to theorders of Acarina, Arachnida, Sinophthera and Phthinapthera. The overall prevalence of the ectoparasites in freelyscavenging chicken in Haramaya district was 55.47%, which may hinder the productivity of the subsector. Hence,awareness creation should be made to producers to put in place better control and preventive measures to gain theexpected output from the growing sector.