Black Sea Journal of Agriculture

Yazarlar: Esra ÜNBAŞ, Nazif YAZGAN, Coşkun KONYALI, Baver COŞKUN, Serdar KAMANLI, Türker SAVAŞ

Konular:Mühendislik, Ziraat

Anahtar Kelimeler:Ectoparasite,Hatching traits,Embryo mortality,Chick quality,Tona score

Özet: Poultry red mite, Dermanyssus gallinae is an ectoparasite on poultry. In this study, we compared the values of chickens healthy and infested with poultry red mite. A total of 48 white layer hens (60-week old) were used in the study. Hens were randomly divided into 2 groups as uninfested control hens (n=24) and infested hens (n=24) with poultry red mite. Groups were housed in two identical rooms and each hen was kept in individual cages. No significant differences were observed between groups at the beginning of the experiment. A heavy infestation was observed after approximately 45 days, which caused high mortality. The second part of the study was investigated hatching and chick quality traits of eggs from white layers. A total of 16 layers of hens were used. The average egg weights of the infested and control chickens were 56.8 g and 58.6 g, respectively. Fertile egg ratio was 79.2% and 76.5%, in the same order (p=0.6386). High significant differences were found between the groups by hatchability of fertile eggs (p<0.0001) and hatchability per incubated eggs (p<0.0001). Parasite infestation did not affect the chick weight, length and Pasgar score (p≤0.1621). However, the chicks of infested parents had lower Tona score on average (p<0.0001) and higher respiratory rates (p=0.0045). An infestation of breeder flocks can be having detrimental effects on the hatching traits and chick quality.

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