Ectoparasites and gastrointestinal helminths of chickens of three agro-climatic zones in Oromia Region, Ethiopia

A survey for ectoparasites and gastrointestinal helminths was conducted in 150 chickens raised in a traditional backyard production system. The chickens were randomly selected from six sites in three agro-climatic zones in central Ethiopia, namely Bekoji and Chancho (highland), Woliso and Teji (midland), and Metehara and Zeway Dugda (lowland). The study indicated that in the three agro-climatic zones 126 (84%), 108 (72%) and 97 (64.67%) of the examined chickens were harbouring ectoparasites, nematodes and cestodes respectively. Out of 10 species of ectoparasites, Menacanthus stramineus (40%) was the most frequent species. Postmortem examinations revealed the presence of four species of nematodes (Ascaridia galli, Heterakis gallinarum, Subulura brumpti and Capillaria caudinflata) and four species of cestodes (Raillietina echinobothrida, R. tetragona, R. cesticillus and Choanotaenia infundibulum). The ectoparasite infestation was found to be sex specific in chicken, being significantly higher (P<0.05) in males. On the other hand, endoparasitic infection showed no such difference (P>0.05). No difference was found among the three agro-climatic zones in the frequency of ectoparasite and nematode infection. However, a significant difference (P<0.05) in the frequency of cestode infection among the three zones was observed.