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A Survey Into The Prevalence Of Parasitic Helminths In Boiler Breeders, Anita Sarathi

Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal

A survey was conducted to determine the prevalence of helminth infections in spent broiler breeders. Intestinal tracts from 10 birds from each of five farms were obtained and examined for parasite identification and quantification. Heterakis gallinarum infections were the most common, followed in order of decreasing incidence by Capillaria obsignata, Ascaridia galli and Raillietina cesticillus. Peak worm burdens for individual birds were 121 (A. galli), 535 (H. gallinarum), 2I5 (C. obsignata) and 125 ( R. cesticillus). Significant farm-to-farm variation in worm burdens was observed.