Perception of Ethno-veterinary practices in selected villages in Ogun state

Abstract

The study was designed to examine perception of ethno-veterinary practices and
information gathering among rural dwellers in selected villages in two local
government areas (LGAs) of Ogun state, Nigeria. The aim was to assess the
involvement of rural poultry farmers in the use of herbs as alternatives to antibiotics.
A multi-stage sampling technique was employed to administer one hundred and
fifteen structured questionnaires while participatory rural appraisal group
discussion was also conducted. Results showed that66.70 % female respondents
were mainly involved in rural poultry production than their malecounterparts
(33.30 %) in Ifo LGA while 52.20 % (male) and 47.80 5 (female) was observed in
Odeda LGA. Backyard and free-range system of management (44.9 and 46.70 %)
was prominent in both LGAs (Odeda and Ifo respectively) than the conventional
system. Poultry birds were raised for income, household consumption and festivity.
Results further revealed that traditional remedies were more preferred because they
are locally available, cultural, effective and cheaper relative to modern veterinary
animal health care practice. It was therefore concluded that to improve poultry
health and production, local knowledge of medication through herbs should be
gathered and used as basis for development of drugs and conduct research programs
to study clinical actions of these plant extracts and categorize active ingredients