PREVALENCE OF GASTROINTESTINAL PARASITES OF CHICKENS IN AKURE, ONDO STATE, NIGERIA.

Thesis Overview

<p> <strong>1.0 INTRODUCTION</strong><br><br>&nbsp; Poultry farming is the practice of raising domesticated birds such as chicken, turkey, ducks,<br><br>&nbsp; quails and geese, as a subcategory of animal husbandry for the purpose of farming meat or eggs<br><br>for food (Anon, 2011). Chickens, turkeys, ducks, and geese are birds of primary importance,<br><br>while guinea fowl and squabs are chiefly of local interest. The term “poultry” is a collective<br><br>name given for a group of birds reared or hunted for useful purposes. It refers to domestic fowl<br><br>in general, e.g. chickens, turkeys, ducks or geese, raised for meat, eggs or feathers. It applies to<br><br>&nbsp; them being generally alive or dressed (killed and prepared for sales). Domestic chickens, <em>Gallus<br><br>&nbsp; gallus domesticus </em>are one of the most widely domesticated fowls and by far the most developed<br><br>and profitable animal production enterprise. They are descended from the wild red jungle fowl<br><br>of South-east Asia belonging to the species <em>Gallus gallus</em>, which has, over thousands of years,<br><br>been subjected to extensive breeding for size, colour, conformation and egg-laying ability. The<br><br>poultry industry occupies an important position in the provision of animal protein (meat and<br><br>egg) to man and generally plays a vital role in the national economy as a revenue provider.<br><br>&nbsp; Poultry meat accounts for 34% of global meat consumption. The worldwide average per capita<br><br>&nbsp; consumption has nearly quadrupled since the 1960s (11kg in 2003 compared with 3kg in 1963)<br><br>&nbsp; (FAO, 2009)<strong>. &nbsp;</strong>The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO)’s<br><br>&nbsp; assessment of the worldwide average per capita poultry meat consumption for 2015 was 13.8kg,<br><br>of which around 12kg are chickens. Poultry is by far the largest livestock group, consisting<br><br>&nbsp; mainly of chickens, ducks and turkeys. The Nigerian agricultural sector is responsible for the<br><br>&nbsp; production of food and livestock with poultry accounting for 80% of the production (Udoh and<br><br>Etim, 2007). This means that the poultry subsector is the most commercialized of all the<br><br><br><br>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;- 12 -<br>&nbsp;<br>&nbsp; subsectors. The types of poultry that are of commercial or economic importance given the trade<br><br>in poultry, however, are chickens, guinea fowls and turkeys, amongst which chickens<br><br>&nbsp; predominate. Chickens constitute about 90% of the poultry population in Nigeria (Omodele and<br><br>&nbsp; Okere, 2014).<br><br><br>The breeds of chickens are generally classified as American, Mediterranean, English, and<br><br>&nbsp; Asiatic. The American breeds of importance today are the Plymouth Rock, the Wyandotte, the<br><br>&nbsp; Rhode Island Red and the New Hampshire. Chicken breeding is a controlled propagation of<br><br>&nbsp; domestic animals in order to improve desirable qualities. It is an outstanding example of the<br><br>&nbsp; application of basic genetic principles of inbreeding, line breeding, and crossbreeding, as well<br><br>as of intensive mass selection to effect faster and cheaper gains in broilers and maximum egg<br><br>&nbsp; production for the egg-laying strains (Encyclopædia Britannica, 2013). All over the world, more<br><br>than three hundred breeds of the domestic chicken species (<em>Gallus domesticus</em>) exist. However,<br><br>there are basically three types of chicken: the layers, the broilers and the cockerels. Geographic<br><br>&nbsp; Information System (GIS) analysis showed chicken production in Nigeria as: Broilers 15.2%,<br><br>&nbsp; Breeders 6.77%, Layers 75.3% and Cockerels 2.73% (Omodele and Okere, 2014)<strong>.</strong><br><br>&nbsp; Consequently, poultry farming is generically used to refer to chicken farming in Nigeria<br><br>&nbsp; because it provides the most poultry meat for delicacies and no tribe or religion in the country<br><br>&nbsp; forbids chicken meat. Since domestic chickens are sources of ready cash and meat to local<br><br>&nbsp; communities and a nation as a whole, their potential could be enhanced through improved<br><br>&nbsp; management and disease control. Profitable livestock and poultry production in Nigeria is<br><br>&nbsp; majorly constrained by parasitism. Parasitic diseases come first among other diseases that cause<br><br>&nbsp; reduction in productivity of rural poultry. However, these diseases are often overlooked because<br><br><br><br><br>&nbsp; clinical symptoms are rarely apparent (Adebisi, 2007). Gastrointestinal parasites which invade<br><br>the host birds possess morphological and physiological features which enhance their adaptation<br><br>to long living and existence in their hosts. These parasites constitute a major factor limiting<br><br>&nbsp; productivity of the poultry industry by affecting the growth rate of the host resulting in<br><br>&nbsp; malfunctioning of organs and eventually death (Soulsby, 1982).<br><br><br><strong>1.1</strong><strong>&nbsp;Justification of Research<br><br></strong>&nbsp; Improved poultry management practices are responsible for the reduction in incidence of<br><br>&nbsp; parasitic infections. The enormous expansion in the commercial poultry production sector has<br><br>been possible through improved management in terms of management procedures such as total<br><br>&nbsp; separation between different age groups, introduction of the "all in - all out" system, efficient<br><br>&nbsp; housing systems, routine vaccination programmes, proper feeding and avoidance of predators<br><br>&nbsp; (Thrusfield, 1995). However, parasitic diseases continue to be of great importance in deep-litter<br><br>and free-range commercial systems. In traditional systems throughout the world a number of<br><br>&nbsp; parasites are widely distributed and contribute significantly to the low productivity. The most<br><br>&nbsp; commonly mentioned parasites are <em>Eimeria</em>&nbsp;spp., <em>Ascaridia</em>&nbsp;<em>galli</em>&nbsp;and <em>Heterakis</em>&nbsp;<em>gallinarum</em><br><br>&nbsp; which are mainly due to the many studies carried out on these parasites. <br><br><br>&nbsp; Currently, there is a paucity of information regarding the prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites<br><br>of chickens in the study area despite their numerous importance. This is rather unfortunate<br><br>&nbsp; because for a fast growing economy like Nigeria, there is a need to continually revalidate<br><br>&nbsp; existing data on the health of chickens at regular intervals. In addition, as co-factors in other<br><br>poultry diseases, the knowledge of the prevalence of these parasites is essential in understanding<br><br><br><br><br><br>&nbsp; the epidemiology and control measures. The current study was carried out to investigate the<br><br>&nbsp; prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites of chickens in the tropics of Southwestern Nigeria.<strong><br><br><br>1.2</strong><strong>&nbsp;Research Questions <br><br></strong>The questions this research is meant to answer include:<br><br>&nbsp; &nbsp; (i) Are gastrointestinal parasites of domestic chickens prevalent among poultry in<br><br>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Akure?<br><br>&nbsp; &nbsp; (ii) In which age range, breed and sex of chickens in Akure are gastrointestinal parasites<br><br>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; most prevalent?<br><br>&nbsp; &nbsp; (iii) In which poultry management system are gastrointestinal parasites most prevalent,<br><br>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; intensive, semi-intensive or extensive?<br><br>&nbsp; &nbsp; (iv) What activities of poultry owners contribute to the acquisition of infections in the<br><br>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; study area?<br><br><strong>1.3</strong><strong>&nbsp;Aims and Objectives of Research<br><br></strong>The aims and objectives of this study are to:<br><br>&nbsp; &nbsp; (i) determine the gastrointestinal parasites found in domestic chickens in parts of<br><br>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Akure, Nigeria. <br><br>&nbsp; &nbsp; (ii) evaluate the prevalence, species composition, and parasite burden (intensity) of<br><br>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; gastrointestinal parasites found in domestic chickens in Akure, Nigeria.<br><br>&nbsp; &nbsp; (iii) evaluate, based on bird sex, breed, and poultry management system, the prevalence<br><br>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; of gastrointestinal parasites of domestic chickens in Akure.<br><br><strong>&nbsp;</strong> <br></p>