Study on Gastrointestinal Helminthes of Backyard Local Chickens in East Shoa Zone of Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia

Abstract

A study was conducted to determine the prevalence of gastrointestinal helminthes in chickens raised under traditional management system in three selected agro ecological areas of East Shoa namely Akaki, Ada’a and Adama. The study showed that 517 (86.17%) of the examined chickens (n= 600) were found to be infected with various helminthes. Out of 600 chickens, 370 (61.65%) carried nematodes including Ascaridia galli (45.2%), Hetrakis gallinarium (18.2%), Capillaria spp (0.66%), Trichostrongylus tennis (1%) and Subulura spp (9%). The predominant cestodes recovered included Ralletina tetragona (21.8%), Ralletina echinobothria (32.9%), Ralletina cesticulus (5.7%), Davina proglottina (1.8%), Amoebotaenia sphrnoides (2%), Choanotania infundibulum (2.2%) and Hymenelopsis spp (1.6%). The over all mean (+ SD) nematode burden per chicken was 9.5+ 8.6. The highest mean ((± SD) nematode count per chicken obtained was 12.1± 10.8 from Ada’a (Mid altitude) where as the over all mean (± SD) cestode burden per chicken was 10.0± 9.7. The highest mean cestode count per chicken was 10.6±10.4 from Ada’a. Mixed infection of both nematode and cestode was encountered in 195 (32.5%) of the cases.