A Study on the Problem of Flea and Struggle Methods in Small Ruminats: The Case of Sirvan District in Siirt Province

Objective: The objectives of the study was to determine the importance of flea in sheep and goat breeding enterprises of the ？irvan district of the Siirt province and to contribute struggle methods against flea. Material and Methods: The research material consisted of 165 small ruminant farms selected by the sampling method from the records of ？irvan district Directorate of Agriculture and Livestock. Results: In the study, the prevalance rate of fleas in family type enterprises was found to be 35.6%, whereas it was 44.4% in commercial enterprises. The difference between the rates of fleas in terms of farm types was statistically significant not important. The most typical symptom in animals with fleas in family type enterprises was itching (46.6%), while in commercial enterprises more than one symptom (61.1%) was observed. Fleas were the most common in young animal for the family-type farms (46.6%) and the least common in dairy animals (4.8%), whereas in the commercial enterprises the most common in adult animals (38.9%) were found to be the least in pregnant animals (5.6%). While fleas were the most common in arm-pit and in the ear (48.6%) and (22.6%), consequently in family farm type, the most common part was body area in commercial enterprises (38.9%). In commercial livestock enterprises, the rate of fleas in other parts of the body was 22.2%. The most commonly used method in the struggle method for fleas was application of liquid medicines in family type enterprises (45.2%) and powder methods (33.3%) in commercial enterprises. The prevalence of fleas for dogs in family and commercial enterprises was; 47.9% and 33.3%, respectively. The subject should not be limited to fleas, but rather to determine the incidence of tick, lice, and other external parasites, rather than their direct or indirect effects on their hosts. Conclusion: In ？irvan district of Siirt province, the importance of flea damage in terms of small ruminant breeders should be emphasized and struggle methods to minimize animal deaths or economic losses caused by fleas should be determined