Rcbd of blue tick adaptation to dipping during winter season: a case of mashona cows in mukore village, masvingo, zimbabwe.

Abstract

Ticks cause great economic losses to livestock in the world and have adverse effect on livestock host in several ways and parasitize a wide range of vertebrate hosts, and transmit a wider variety of pathogenic agents than any other group of arthropods. A complex of problems related to ticks and tick-borne diseases of cattle created a demand for methods to control ticks and reduce losses of cattle. In this paper, dipping is the only control method used to eradicate cattle ticks in the area of Mukore and only Mashona cows are examined. However, Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD), an experimental method, confirms that Blue Ticks are resistant to dipping in this area. Four different parts of a cow (blocks) are of interest in this research during the experiment.The results show that the most affected area is the udder followed by the belly, tail and lastly the ear.Tickbuster (EC) cattle Dip is the chemical used in the plunge dipping tank. A supplementary method such as spraying the cows on critical areas after dipping should be adopted rather than relying on dipping only.