Improved parasite diagnosis and targeted treatment of laying hens
Project overview
Participants
More related research
Short summary
Parasitic worm infections in layers are a well-known animal welfare problem in the poultry industry. Despite this, there are knowledge gaps about how worms are detected in living laying hens and on methods for how they can be controlled in modern free-range housing systems.
The objectives of the project are to; i) develop new molecular with which one can distinguish ascarid eggs from Ascaridia and Heterakis, and ii) evaluate a method of targeted treatment during production conditions which so far has only been tested on a smaller scale.
All in all, the idea is to investigate whether it is possible to suppress the spread of infection and thereby prevent severe re-infection by beginning the deworming at an early stage of the infection cycle. We also intend to evaluate the results of a monitoring program initiated by the Swedish Egg Association in 2009. The results of the proposed research program will thus form the basis and be able to be implemented in the extension service to farmers.
Collaborations
The project is a collaboration between the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), the National Veterinary Institute (SVA) and Svenska Ägg.
In addition to the participants from SLU, the project group also includes the following:
- Desiree Jansson, SVA
- Eva Osterman, SVA
- Marike Gunnarsson, Svenska Ägg