Farmers Review Africa Sept/Oct 2018 FRA - September - October 2018 digital 5 | Page 26

FEATURE
visitors in the community as they are
viewed as a special dish.
Small-scale farmers should never
underestimate the potential of these
chicken as they are easy to manage.
Most importantly when it comes to
integrated farming, chicken perform a
valued hygienic role by eating waste
food and controlling pests in gardens.
The role and significance of indigenous
knowledge in rearing indigenous chicken
Indigenous knowledge is essential
in rearing of indigenous chicken
as it helps households treat and
avert various ailments such as
coccidiosis, gastro-intestinal diseases,
eye infections, cough and flu and
some other diseases that distress
indigenous chicken. Moreover, modern
day vaccines are costly while the
traditional remedies are free and easily
accessible. As such, traditional treatment
retains its significance to local farmers.
The most commonly used traditional
medicines for indigenous chickens
are Sisal (Sanseviera spp) whose
leaves are crushed and put in warm
water and then given to the chicken.
24 |September - October 2018
This is used to treat endo parasites
and intestinal diseases, Aloe is also
processed the same way as Sisal.
However, this is used to treat diseases that
affect the ability to move and bile infection.
Moringa (Moringa oleifera) is a multi-
purpose treatment which is used to
treat various diseases, additionally,
Marula (Sclerocarya birrea) is used to
treat gastro intestinal diseases, garlic
is used to repel snakes to mention
but a few. The above cited medicinal
remedies are found within the
environment where farmers live. This
makes it easy for them to treat their
birds and maximize numbers. are slight citations of the use of Ethno
Veterinary Medicine (EVM), as many
investigators, societies and health
experts view these practices as backward.
Ethno Veterinary Medicine (EVM)
is less methodical, formal and not
comprehensively known as an effective
technique of infection control in
indigenous chicken rearing. Therefore,
it is recommended that records of
herbal plants are essential because
they are likely to be more important in
the forthcoming specifically given the
mounting cost of modern medicines.
Therefore, traditional herbs are the route
to take since they are easy to be found.
Indigenous knowledge is important for
small-holder farmers because it gives
to the local empowerment, progress
and cumulative self-sufficiency. As
such, farmers are encouraged to make
use of indigenous herbs as they are
freely obtainable. Such a data system is vital for
improvement and must be assembled
and recognized for small-scale farmers
in different communities. In addition,
more inquiries on IKS in indigenous
chicken rearing remains necessary
especially when it comes to developing
countries. This is as far as assessment
and endorsement of the traditional
cures commonly used by indigenous
chicken farmers to regulate infections
of poultry for their usefulness is
concerned.
Furthermore, herbal treatment
has always been a prescription for
indigenous chickens among the
resource poor smallholder farmers for
many generations. Nevertheless, there