Prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites in indigenous chickens slaughtered at live bird markets of Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract

Endoparasitism is among important causes of reduced productivity of indigenous chickens. This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence and intensity of gastrointestinal (GI) parasites in apparently healthy free range chickens slaughtered at various live bird markets in Nairobi County, Kenya. The 131 sampled chickens of both sexes originated from 8 counties with varying agro-climatic conditions. Worm egg and coccidial oocyst counts were performed on fecal materials from each bird while worms collected from the GI tracts were identified and quantified. Many chickens had adult GI helminths (90%), but only a few of these (14%) had coccidial oocysts. Nematodes were the predominant helminths (89%) followed by cestodes (51.5%) but no trematodes were recovered. The nematodes recovered were: Heterakis isolonche (59.5%), Subulura brumpti (36%), Tetrameres americana (32%),Ascaridia galli (19.8%), Gongylonema ingluvicola (19.1%),Acuaria hamulosa (6.1%), Heterakis gallinarum (5.3%) andCapillaria spp. (2.3%). The cestodes recovered were: Raillietina echinobothrida (37.7%), Hymenolepis carioca (33.6%), Davainea proglottina (6.9%), R. tetragona (6.1%) and R. cesticillus (2.3%). Other endoparasites encountered were the air-sac mite, Cytodites nudus (15.3%), Sacocystis spp. (5.6%) and Syngamus trachea (4%). The results of this study showed that GI parasites are prevalent and may pose health problems in apparently healthy free range chickens. The parasites economic importance should be investigated and control strategies initiated to improve the health and productivity of indigenous chickens in Kenya.