Ectoparasite Diversity, Infestation Burden, and Associated Husbandry Factors in Backyard Chickens across an Urban-Rural Gradient in District Karak, Pakistan
Abstract
Backyard poultry contributes directly to household nutrition, income and social resilience, yet external parasites are commonly overlooked because infestations are episodic, taxonomically diverse and strongly shaped by husbandry. This study investigated ectoparasite diversity, infestation burden, associated husbandry factors and host-health indicators in backyard chickens across urban, peri-urban and rural settings of District Karak, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. A stratified repeated cross-sectional field study was conducted among 480 chickens from 60 households across urban, peri-urban and rural settings of District Karak during four seasonal sampling periods. Birds were systematically examined at the head, neck, wings, breast, back, vent, thighs and legs; coop cracks and perches were sampled using refuge traps; collected arthropods were preserved and identified morphologically; and body condition, packed cell volume, hemoglobin, feather damage, skin lesions and preening behavior were recorded. Field observation and laboratory identification data were analyzed to determine ectoparasite prevalence, species composition, infestation burden and their associations with seasonal, landscape and husbandry characteristics. The overall prevalence of ectoparasite infestation was 65.4% (314/480), with six identified ectoparasite species and 139 mixed infestations. Menacanthus stramineus was the most prevalent species (31.5%), followed by Menopon gallinae (21.5%) and Dermanyssus gallinae (19.4%). In the multivariable mixed-effects logistics regression model, poor coop hygiene (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 2.81), daily scavenging (aOR 1.96) and summer sampling (aOR 1.84) increased the odds of infestation, whereas recent ectoparasiticide use was protective (aOR 0.46). Infested birds had lower body-condition scores and packed cell volumes, but higher preening and feather-damage scores. The study provides field-based empirical evidence on ectoparasite occurrence, infestation burden, associated husbandry factors and host-health indicators in backyard chickens and provides locally relevant recommendations for parasite management.
Keywords
- Backyard poultry; ectoparasites; chewing lice; poultry mites; Argas persicus; risk factors; animal welfare; Karak; Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
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