Documentation of ethno veterinary practices followed by tribal backyard poultry rearers in Bastar district of Chhattisgarh

The purpose of this is to document ethno veterinary practices used by tribal backyard poultry rearers of Chhattisgarh. A multistage random sampling procedure was used to select 120 respondents (12 respondents per village) in the study. A structured interview schedule duly pre-tested and validated was used to elicit information from the respondents. The results of the study showed that 55.00 per cent of the respondents were Gond tribe followed by Bhatra, Halba, Muriya, Mariya, Kawar and Oraon. Tribal backyard poultry rearers reported that fifty-five percent of the respondents used ethno-veterinary medicines, (28.33%) allopathic, (11.67%) not treated and (5%) homeopathic remedies to control diseases and parasites. Twenty medicinal plants like Ginger, Garlic, Turmeric, Black pepper, Indian liquorice, Tulsi, Neem, Nirgundi, Banyan tree, Eucalyptus, Aloe vera, Papaya, Betel nuts, Kaleejeera, Quisqualis, Sinduri, Duku, Vidanga, Ebony, Lemon grass, Tobacco and Mahua are used in the control and treatment of poultry diseases. The plant parts used were leaves, fruits and roots which were either used fresh or dry. Leaves were the common plant parts used. All medicinal plants were administered orally before or after disease outbreaks. The results indicate that tribals depended on ethno veterinary medicine for treating backyard poultry diseases.