Abstract

A survey of gastrointestinal heminthes of chickens and Guinea fowls slaughtered at Sokoto was undertaken. A total of 400 alimentary tracts (200 from Chickens and 200 from Guinea fowls), were obtained from four locations in Sokoto metropolis and analyzed using the floatation method. The results showed that 344(86.0%) of the birds harboured intestinal helminthes parasites. The most encountered species were Raillietina echinobothrida (44.8%), Ascaridia numudae (19.5%), Heterakis gallinarum (15.1%), Ascaridia galli (10.0%) Hymenolepis carioca (4.9%), Sublura brumpti (3.2%) and the least recorded was Amoebataenia cuneata (2.6%). Infections within parasite species encountered was significant (p0.05).The role of gastrointestinal helminthes in the depletion of nutrients and vitamins and reduced productivity of birds was highlighted.

Key words: Prevalence, helminthes, fowls, parasitosis, Sokoto