Use of Indigenous Traditional Knowledge (ITK) in the Health Management of Backyard Poultry in India
Every household can take up backyard poultry as an additional source of income by rearing colored bird units ranging from 10-20 birds per family in their backyards. Home-produced fertile eggs are hatched to provide replacements, birds feed by scavenging or are provided with household scraps and crop by-products. There are virtually no veterinary inputs and the remaining eggs and meat produced are utilized within the household. Such units demand very little hand feeding and can fetch a fairly handsome return with bare minimal night shelter. Village or backyard production systems are widely scattered and survive in both rural and urban areas. It is estimated that today in India, about 15 percent of total poultry output is derived from “backyard” production (Landes et al., 2004). According to Mandal et al. (2006) it is a low input or no input business. It is characterized by indigenous night shelter system , scavenging system with little supplementary feeding, natural hatching of chicks , poor productivity of birds , local marketing and no health care practice .
Importance of health management in backyard poultry systems :
Though native and improved birds reported to have better immune competence, they need to be protected against certain diseases likeRanikhet disease, Marek’s Disease, Fowl pox, Gumboro disease and parasitic infestations under backyard and free ranging conditions. Other diseases that may affect the poultry birds are Coccidiosis, infectious coryza, Salmonellosis etc. For better health care in backyard poultry farming the birds should be timely vaccinated and dewormed as and when required. Among vaccinations, ND vaccination must be the most important one to be considered in backyard poultry.
Suggested Vaccination Schedule for the Rural Birds
Vaccination Schedule for Vanaraja / Gramapriya/ Sonali birds
| Age (days) | Vaccine | Dose | Route |
| 1 | Marek’s Disease | 0.20 ml | S/C |
| In the nursery | |||
| 5thor 7th day | Ranikhet Disease (Lasota) | One drop | Eye drop |
| 14th day | Infectious Bursal Disease(Georgia) | One drop | Oral drop |
| 21st day | Pox ( Fowl Pox) | 0.20ml | I/M or S/C |
| 28th day | Ranikhet Disease (Lasota) | One drop | Eye drop |
| In the field | |||
| 9th week | Ranikhet Disease Repeat every 6 months interval | 0.50 mL | Eye drop or pellet |
| 12th week | Fowl Pox Repeat every 6 months interval | 0.20mL | S/C |
Thermo stable Oral Pellet Vaccine against Newcastle Disease.:
If disease is endemic, ND control through vaccination is generally a very cost-effective intervention .Commercial vaccines become unsuitable for backyard poultry because of heat labile nature and large doses availability. A vaccine which can be easily administered in feed is required for ND control in free range chickens
- Vaccine contains live D58 strain of Newcastle disease virus in pellets made up lactose, amaranthus dye and starch.
- The oral pellet vaccine is highly useful. It is easy to handle and administer.
- The oral pellet vaccine has to be administered at the rate of two pellets per bird of more than
10 days old and the dose should be administered within two and a half and three months interval.
- Product presented as vials containing vaccine granules of 25 doses.
Mosquitoes can be controlled by removing stagnant water, pouring oil or kerosene on stagnant water.Deficiency of protein, vitamins, minerals and vital amino acids and insufficient energy in feed cause poor growth and ruffled feathers. Vitamin A deficiency causes respiratory symptoms and conjunctivitis. A vitamin B deficiency causes paralysis and neuritis. A vitamin B2 deficiency causes curled toe paralysis, manganese and choline deficiency causes slipped tendon disease.
Biosecurity tips
- Disease free, improved strain, dual purpose poultry birds may be procured for back yard poultry farming.
- Periodical vaccination should be done on regular basis.
- Clean drinking water and fungus free feed should be supplied to the birds. FAO considersfood and water management as a biosecurity hazard to backyard poultry.
- Overcrowding should be avoided.
- Sick bird should be immediately separated/ culled from healthy flock.
- Poultry equipments particularly waterer and feeder should be regularly cleaned and
disinfected.
- Alternate sources of high protein content like grasshoppers, earthworms, termites, mermaid cricket meal and algae like spirulina, azolla can be fed for tolerance to combat viral diseases.
- Initially protecting the chicks and feeding creep feed and offering shelter to protects from airborne predators can be considered.
- The birds should be free from predators and should not be scared by other animals.
- Before procuring new flocks the shed should be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected.
- During summer and winter months the shed should be protected from hot or cold wind by hanging curtain/ wet gunny bags around the side of the wall or shed. In summer months water sprinkling also can be done or shady trees can be grown near coop.
- Effective disinfectants include chlorhexidine, sodium hypochlorite (6%),
- Age and species separate rearing of poultry/consideration for single species rearing.
- Try to avoid taking birds to (or bringing birds home from) all shows and exhibits. If new birds are introduced onto your farm, keep the new birds separate from your flock for one month and look for any signs of disease.
- Newly introduced birds must be quarantined for two weeks prior before joining the flock to allow a time lag for any disease to reveal itself.
- Mix a solution of three parts bleach to two parts water, and use it liberally to clean rubber boots and equipment brought onto your farm.
- Wash surfaces with soap and water, rinsing well, before applying disinfectant.
- Burning or deep burial disposal method of dead birds is one of the strongest recommendations
Tables are provided below please scroll down.
Indigenous traditional knowledge in health care of backyard poultry
| Newcastle Disease | Symptoms | Turmeric powder | 1 tsp in 2 lit water |
| Respiratory symptoms- gasping, nasal discharge, greenish diarrhea, torticollis | Ground garlic leaves mixed in feed | 6-7 nos / 10 birds | |
| Potassium Permanganate | 3 – 4 drops in water | ||
| Fowlpox | Gasping seen in Diphtheritic. Blisters/ scabs eruptions in cutaneous form | Black- pepper seeds (twice a day for 3 days) |
Chick – 1 seed Adult birds – 2 to 3 seeds |
| Dry seeds of mature chili pepper (for 3 days) |
Chicks – 2 to 3 seeds/ day Adult birds – 5 to 10 seeds/ day |
||
| Cough and cold | Nasal discharge, swollen sinuses, gasping. | Turmeric rhizomepowder | 1/2 tsp / lit water |
| Crushed garlic cloves | 1 clove / bird / day | ||
| Fenugreek seeds | 10 g / liter of boiling water | ||
| Chopped onion | 1/4 / bird / day | ||
| Ginger/ Adhrak | juice of 10g ginger with 250 ml of water and 10 g of brown sugar.. Add 3 tablespoons of the mixture in the drinking water each day /10 birds | ||
| Andrographispaniculataor kalmegh. | Boil with 2 liters of water till 1 liter is left. Soak 2 handfuls of uncooked milled rice in this water overnight. Feed to chicken next morning mixed with other feed. | ||
| Plain Yogurt with Live and Active Cultures | Probiotic and source of calcium | ||
| Thulsileaves | Boilhandful of leaves in 1lit of water | ||
| Diarrhea | Off feed, watery fecaces, can be viral ,bacterial or protozoal infection | Crushed garlic cloves and turmeric rhizome in feed | 7-10 cloves and fingernail sized turmeric rhizome / 10 birds |
| Garlic + onion bulb +cumin seeds +fenugreek seeds +dry turmeric rhizome in feed for 2-3 days | 7-10 garlic cloves + 1 onion bulb + 5-10 gcumin seeds + Thumb-sized turmeric rhizome
|
||
| Myrsticafragrans/ jathiphala fruit | Grind 1/4 of a dried mace. Grind 1/4 of a dried mace |
||
| Azimatetracantha/ needle bush/ Kanda-gur-kamay | Grind a handful of leaves or roots and mix with yoghurt and add to feed | ||
| Sesbaniaaegyptiaca/ janathiseeds in feed | 5 g of seeds | ||
| Parasitism | Stunted growth, poor appetite. | Fresh turmeric rhizomejuice as drinking water(once every month) |
250 g |
| Groundfresh cloves of garlic infeed (Repeat once every month) | 6cloves /10 birds for 1-2 days | ||
| Raw papaya sap (containsbenzylisothiocyanate- show efficacy towards roundworms) |
Mix 5 parts of sap with 1 part of water. Give 2-3 teaspoons of liquid (1015 ml) for every 10 chickens for 5 days | ||
| Heat air-dried Areca crèche (supari) nuts | Put a pinch of powder of ground areca nuts in the mouth of each bird once a day for a week. | ||
| Centratherum (=Vernonia) anthelminticum (Black Cumin/ kallijeeri) | Seed extracts showed efficacy against some ascarid roundworms (e.g. Toxocaravitulorum) and threadworms (e.g. Strongyloides). | ||
| Raw Pumpkin Seeds (cucurbitacin paralyses tapeworm and round worm) |
Offer ad libitum | ||
| Heat stress | Gullar flutter, carcass of dead birds show cooked appearance. | Sugar | 4 tsp sugar/ lit of drinking water |
| TICKS, LICE AND MITES
|
Anemia, dull , scaly legs in mite. | Diospyrosebenum/Ebnus/ ebony | Dry leaves hung in shed or coop |
| Dry tobacco leaves (do not allow birds to eat tobacco) | Dry leaves hung in shed or coop | ||
| Ocimum sanctum/ thulsi | Dry leaves hung in shed or coop | ||
| lemon grass (Cymbopogoncitratus) | Dry leaves hung in shed or coop | ||
| A mixture of 2 parts neem (leaves or oil), 1 part of salt and 1 part of ash | Rub on the birds’ skin | ||
| A mixture of I part of salt and 2 parts of mustard oil | Rub on the birds’ skin | ||
| driedAnnonasquamosa (seethaphal, custard apple) seeds. | Rub on the birds’ skin |
INDIGENOUS TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE (ITK) PRACTICES IN LIVESTOCK FARMING IN INDIA
