Gastro Intestinal Helminths Parasites of Local Chickens Samples from Tribal Areas of Madhya Pradesh

Chicken providing employment and income for small-scale farmers particularly in the off cropping season, poultry integrates very well into other farming activities like cropping. Chickens die each year as a result of various infections. Prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites is still very rampant. The domestic chicken feeds on a wide range of food substances. This ranged from grains, fruits to insects which may harbour infective stages of parasites thereby predisposing them to parasites infection. Two hundred (200) gastrointestinal tracts of local and exotic breeds of chickens local retail outlets collected from the tribal areas Including Seoni, Chhindwara, Dindori, Mandla, Jabalpur, of (M.P.). Samples were collected from retail chicken shops and examined for helminthes parasites.Formolether concentration technique was used to concentrate the gut content and analysis carried out. Six different gastrointestinal parasites were isolated and identified. Of these parasites, Ascaris galli was found to be the most prevalent (51.60%) among the chickens. Other parasites encountered included; Railleitina echinobothrida (21.60%), R. tretragona (22.0%), Hymenolepsis carioca (23.00%), Hetarakis gallinarum (31.00%) and Syngamus trachea (1.50%).Prevalence rate of infection between the local and exotic breeds of chickens. Parasite preference in respect to sex was also recorded. Females harbored more parasites than males. The significance and socio-economic implications of these parasites are also highlighted.