Quantitative studies on Heterakis gallinarum infections in the common fowl, Gallus gallus L

The fertility, mortality, and migration patterns of Hetarakis gallinarum were studied in chickens with concomitant Parahistomonas wenrichi infections. H. gallinarum females were found to produce approximately 936 ova per day, when 50 days of age, and a total of 34,000 to 86,000 ova in a lifetime. There was no evidence of differential mortality between the sexes, nor of a preference for either the left or the right caecal organ of chickens. Both male and female worms are capable of migrating between caeca, and are expecially prone to do so when in the absence of individuals of the opposite sex.