Original Research
Diseases of free-ranging chickens in the Qwa-Qwa district of the northeastern Free State province of South Africa
Journal of the South African Veterinary Association | Vol 74, No 1 | a490 |
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/jsava.v74i1.490
| © 2003 M.M.O. Thekisoe, P.A. Mbati, S.P.R. Bisschop
| This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 25 June 2003 | Published: 25 June 2003
Submitted: 25 June 2003 | Published: 25 June 2003
About the author(s)
M.M.O. Thekisoe,P.A. Mbati,
S.P.R. Bisschop,
Full Text:
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A total of 177 free-ranging chickens from 19 Qwa-Qwa villages were bled from wing veins over a period of 6 months (June-November 2000). Serological tests indicated that 5 % of chickens tested had been exposed to Newcastle disease, 43 % to infectious bronchitis and 63 % to Mycoplasma gallisepticum infection. McMaster and Visser sieve techniques were used to determine helminth and coccidia from pooled fresh faecal samples. Helminths isolated in 37 % of the villages investigated were Heterakis, Ascaridia and Capillaria species. Eimeria species were also isolated in 32 % of the villages investigated. The red fowl mite (Dermanyssus gallinae) was isolated from some of the birds and their nests. Data from a questionnaire survey indicated that all farmers interviewed had never received any technical support and that their chickens had never been vaccinated against any avian diseases. Only 10.5 % of the owners interviewed had scientific knowledge on poultry diseases. There is an urgent need for the government to support free-ranging poultry farmers by providing subsidised vaccinations and technical support in order to develop and stimulate economic development in impoverished rural areas of South Africa.
Keywords
Avian Helminths; Free-Ranging Chickens; Infectious Bronchitis; Mycoplasma Gallisepticum; Newcastle Disease
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