A survey on prevalence of helminth infection in desi poultry birds from Darbhanga region of north Bihar India

Abstract

Poultry has a major role to play in developing countries. Produce is relatively inexpensive and widely available. The commercial poultry industry provides employment and is growing rapidly. To produce 1 kg of meat from a commercial chicken only about 1.7 kg of feed is needed. Poultry production has a less detrimental impact on the environment than other livestock, and uses less water. Semi-scavenging backyard indigenous poultry are extremely important in providing income and high-quality protein in the diets of rural people whose traditional foods are typically rich in carbohydrate but low in protein. The domestic chicken feeds on a wide variety of food substances ranging from grains, fruits to insects which may harbour infective stages of parasites thereby predisposing them to parasitic infection particularly gastro-intestinal parasites. Although, somewhat reduction in bird’s parasitic infection has been achieved in commercial production system mostly due to improved housing, hygiene and management practices the prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites is still very rampant.