By Dick Wagaluka

Livestock officer Wycliffe Omodo has wiped out flea infestations killing nearly half of the birds in some of his local poultry flocks using only grease and Sevin powder. 

A scientific study found 46 per cent of flea-infested birds died within four months, compared with just 5.9 per cent of clean birds. In many countries in Africa, fleas regularly infest over 1/20th of sampled chickens.

Wycliffe, who farms and works in Suba North in Homa Bay County, said the pests take hold where hygiene is poor.

 “Majorly before we consider how we do away with fleas, number one, we check on what is bringing them in the poultry, the causative agent,” said Wycliffe. “The fleas, what attracts them to the facility is poor hygiene. When the place is dusty, it’s prone to fleas. Normally we encourage or train farmers on biosecurity and biosafety measures. What is bringing the fleas is environmental.”

To maintain biosecurity, farmers need to prevent wild animals or other livestock from having contact with chickens, as they carry fleas that can quickly spread through the flock.

“Majorly fleas cause two major problems in poultry,” said Wycliffe. “Number one, they cause irritation, because if they bite the birds, they feel an itchy effect making them scratch themselves. Number two, it brings what is called anaemia, because the fleas suck blood. They also bring discomfort.”

Yet research has found fleas in up to 40 per cent of backyard chickens in countries such as India, while a Kenyan study recorded up to 163 fleas on a single duck, with an average of 31.7 fleas per bird.

“Normally, control measure, what we do, we normally tell the farmers to clean the place then we fumigate the place,” said Wycliffe.

Related news:

Poultry farmer fights fleas with banana peels

Laikipia poultry farm sprays garlic, thyme & mint to kill off chicken keepers’ nightmare

Chicken dipping eradicates 90% of external parasites

“But for the poultry that are affected, we advise farmers to smear oil, the milking jelly, body fat. If you apply the jelly, there will be no circulation of air. They will suffocate and don’t use paraffin because some farmers use it and that paraffin affects the birds, we don’t encourage that. We advise the farmers to use the jelly or grease,” said Wycliffe.

“No injection is needed yet because what attracts the fleas is poor hygiene,” he said. “If it is a dusty house, you’ll have to sprinkle water on the floor till the dust settles then you fumigate the room. We can fumigate using Sevin Dudu Dust or the recommended fumigants. To the ones affected, especially around the eye region, reddish in appearance, smear the oil, and the fleas there will suffocate and die.”

Are you a farmer looking to grow the most profitable crop on your farm, with or without irrigation. Use FarmBizAfrica’s HarvestMAX on https://harvestmax.farmbizapps.com and it will tell you in less than a minute what the highest income-earning crops are for your weather, soil type and this season, based on your seasonal weather forecast. Don’t make weather losses ever again, and more than triple your income.