A survey on disease prevalence, ectoparasite infestation and chick mortality in poultry populations of Kenya

Backyard poultry production in Africa suffers major setbacks due to factors such as disease and parasite infestation. This has resulted to dwindling quantities of meat and eggs produced and also increased mortality rate observed in poultry birds. We carried out a study on 90 helmeted guinea fowls from Bungoma South, Teso North, Bungoma West, Mt. Elgon and Laikipia, and 296 indigenous chicken from three agro-climatic zones of Kenya; Lamu Archipelago, L. Turkana basin and Mt. Elgon catchment during the period September 2014 to January 2015.

Of the several possible diseases detected through clinical examinations, we noted that indigenous chicken that showed Newcastle disease clinical signs were the most common with Lamu Archipelago recording the highest number of cases (83%) while L. Turkana basin recorded the lowest (9%). Low Newcastle disease prevalence was mainly attributed to superior innate immunity by indigenous chicken unaffected by poultry improvement programs and also effective vaccination. Mites, lice, fleas, and ticks were confirmed as the common types of ectoparasites affecting poultry. Mites were the most common (43%) followed by lice (40%), fleas (37%) and ticks (2%). Wild guinea fowl populations were found to be less affected by ectoparasite infestation when compared to the domestic populations. Poor husbandry was the main cause of high ectoparasite infestation observed. We report that chick mortality rate is highest during the first week mainly due to diseases, predation, poor feeding and lack of proper housing. However, it reduces with the growth of the poultry birds over time. There was no significant relationship between chick mortality rate and the different agro-climatic zones. We also noted that most farmers prefer disease-resistant poultry when compared to other traits such as body size, egg yield, and growth rate.

This study outlines how prevalent Newcastle disease is irrespective of the agro-climatic zone. It also confirms the high intensity of ectoparasite infestation in indigenous chicken and domesticated guinea fowls. All these factors that negatively impact on poultry production are mainly centered on poor husbandry.