Abstract

MONGE, Javier  and  SANCHEZ, Carol. Composition of the community, population structure, reproductive status and habitat use of rodents in a poultry farm in Costa Rica. Cuadernos de Investigación UNED [online]. 2018, vol.10, n.2, pp.397-403. ISSN 1659-4266.  http://dx.doi.org/10.22458/urj.v10i2.2168.

Rodents are usually part of livestock production systems and given the negative impact they cause, it is necessary to determine the species or species present, as well as the status of their populations to design and implement control programs. We studied the rodent community in the poultry farm of the Fabio Baudrit Moreno Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Costa Rica, located in La Garita, Alajuela, Costa Rica, for a period of 25 months. We made fortnightly samplings in two consecutive periods of 24 hours each, with snap traps in 53 fixed stations located around the sheds and warehouses. We collect three species of rodents, being the predominant house mouse (Mus musculus), followed by field rat (Sigmodon hirsutus) and Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus), with 115, 9 and 6 captures, respectively. The population structure of M. musculus was defined by a sex ratio of 1,9:1 (males and females) and a predominance of adults. The 44% of the captured females were pregnant. The litter size ranged from 3 to 7 embryos, with an average of 5,17 embryos / litter. The period of greatest reproductive activity was between June and September.

Keywords : Mus musculus; Sigmodon hirsutus; Rattus norvegicus; pest rodents; poulatry farm.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )