Diversity of Parasitic Fauna in Semi-Scavenging Indigenous Chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) in Bangladesh

Background: Parasites are a major concern for profitable poultry production worldwide as they impede the health, welfare and production performance of poultry.

Objectives: The present study was designed to detect the diversity of parasitic fauna and associated factors of gastrointestinal (GI) helminths and lice in indigenous chickens.

Methods: A total of 310 indigenous chickens were collected from different villages at Gauripur and Mymensingh Sadar, Mymensingh, and Bangladesh, and various parasites were identified.

Results: Out of 310 indigenous semi-scavenging chickens, 281 were infected with one or more species of helminths with an overall prevalence of 90.6%. The identified species of helminths were Ascaridia galli (60.6%), Heterakis gallinarum (29.0%) and Cheilospirura hamulosa (14.2%), Catatropis verrucosa (7.7%), Echinostoma revolutum (7.4%), Raillietina spp. (76.5%) and Hymenolepis spp. (5.8%). The prevalence of lice infestations was 74.2%, and identified species were Menopon gallinae (72.6%), Goniodes gigas (11.6%) and Lipeurus caponis (10.3%). Co-infections with helminths were 65.8% and with lice were 19.4% in chickens. Univariate analysis was performed to measure the association between predictor variables and parasitic infections by considering several biotic and abiotic variables, including age, sex, flock size, farming nature, use of anthelmintic/insecticides and socio-economic status of owners. No significant (p < 0.05) variation was found in helminth infections but large flock size (87.0%) and mixed farming nature (81.2%) were significantly associated with lice infestations in chickens.

Conclusions: Awareness related to the management system of chickens rearing need to be increased for formulating control strategy against parasitic infections in indigenous chickens in Bangladesh.