Causes of rural poultry losses and level of awareness of Ranikhet disease among rural farmers in Jagitial district of Telangana state

This study was conducted to determine the major causes of rural poultry losses and to evaluate the level of awareness on the consequences of Ranikhet disease (RD) among rural poultry farmers in Jagitial district of Telangana State. Structured questionnaire was used for interviewing farmers. Results revealed that chickens are dominating the poultry population while turkey was the least. Majority of the respondents reared desi variety of birds followed by improved varieties such as Vanaraja, Giriraja, Rainbow rooster, Rajasri etc rearing under the extensive system by providing shelter in the form of local made bamboo baskets. The study also revealed that mortality due to high incidence of disease was the major cause of rural poultry losses which was supported by reports of whitish diarrhea, greenish diarrhea and twisting of head & neck mainly during the summer season. It was also observed that majority respondents were unaware of the disease symptoms or the vaccination strategy regarding Ranikhet disease (RD) and most of the farmers experienced disease outbreak once in a year. Majority of the respondents mentioned veterinary hospitals as their main source of treatment for their birds and taken the help of farmers in treating their birds. Among the persons having knowledge about vaccination against RD, majority have reported that the vaccine was available at veterinary hospitals.