Prevalence and body distribution of the poultry red mite in layer farms from Markazi province of Iran

This study was aimed to determine abundance and body distribution of PRM in laying hens of Arak. A total of 1400 laying hens were randomly examined from January to June 2008. Of those, 26 (92.86%) layer farms were found to be infested with Dermanyssus gallinae (39.3%). There was significant association between prevalence and climatic conditions of the region. The most common predilection site of PRM was significantly cloak (52.7%) and the highest mixed infestation rate was 10.9% for wing-breast and cloak-breast of examined poultries. It was concluded that PRM infestation was low and predilection sites of infestation may affect egg laying capacity.