doi:10.5455/vetworld.2013.18-21 Documentation of ethnoveterinary practices used in family poultry in Botswana

Aim: To document the use of indigenous plants used by family poultry rearers to treat and control diseases and parasites in 15 villages of Botswana. Materials and Methods: A total of 1000 family poultry rearers in 15 villages were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Data were also collected through direct observation, village walks, interview of passers-by, group interviews, and meetings with key informants (i.e., traditional leaders, extension agents and chairpersons of village development committees). Results: The ethnoveterinary practices in 15 villages of Botswana were identified and documented. Nineteen plant species representing 15 families were used by family poultry rearers to treat and control poultry diseases and parasites. Most frequently used plants were from Fabaceae, Asteraceae and Liliaceae. Both human and veterinary medications (e.g., vicks, disprin and Compral tablets, blue stones, potassium permanganate, veterinary drugs and vaccines) were used in health management. Sixty-six percent of the respondents said they used traditional remedies to control and treat diseases, 19% did not use vaccines or remedies, 2% used vaccines while 13% used drugs to control and treat diseases. Conclusions: Ethnoveterinary medicine predominates in family poultry healthcare. Scientific investigations should be carried out to ascertain the effectiveness of identified plant species used in health management of family poultry.


Introduction
traced to the occurrence of natural products with medicinal properties [5].The indigenous traditional Ethnoveterinary medicine (EVM) is a scientific term knowledge of medicinal plants of various ethnic for traditional animal health care that encompasses the communities, where it has been transmitted orally for knowledge, skills, methods, practices, and beliefs centuries is fast disappearing from the face of the earth about animal health care found among community due to the advent of modern technology and transmembers [1].Ethnoveterinary practice to animal health formation of traditional culture [6].care is as old as the domestication of various livestock Resource-poor farmers in rural and peri-urban species [2].The EVM provides valuable alternatives to areas have limited access to veterinary care in terms of and complements western-style veterinary medicine support services (from state and private veterinarian [3].This is increasingly evident in the West where herbal and animal health technicians), information about the medicine is becoming mainstream.Ethnoveterinary prevention and treatment of livestock diseases, and medicine is of specific value in developing countries preventative and therapeutic veterinary medicines [7].where allopathic veterinary medicines are often beyond This leads to farmers utilizing EVM for health managethe reach of livestock producers.Many indigenous ment of livestock.Ethnoveterinary medicine is widely veterinary beliefs and practices persist in a wide used by resource-poor family poultry farmers, especially majority of stock raisers and farmers, particularly in the women.Natural products, especially plant products developing countries.Medicinal herbs as potential that are locally available, are generally used [8].The sources of therapeutics aids have attained a significant wide use of traditional remedies by family poultry rearers role in health system all over the world for both humans in Botswana is attributable to lack of knowledge in the and animals not only in the diseased condition but also use of vaccines, lack of cooling facilities, unavailaas potential material for maintaining proper health [4].bility of vaccines, and possible effectiveness of the The widespread use of herbal remedies and healthcare remedies in curing some diseases [9].The use of EVM preparations, as those described in ancient texts such as can be considered sustainable as it is economical, the Vedas and the Bible, and obtained from commonly used traditional herbs and medicinal plants, has been culturally acceptable and ecologically sound [10].

Results and Discussion
In Botswana, it was observed [11] that family poultry rearers are not vaccinated against any poultry Poultry species and ownership: Seven species of diseases and even when sick resulting in 100% of chicken poultry were kept in the villages including chickens, rearers using herbal concoctions instead.Additionally, ducks, pigeons, turkeys, peafowls, geese and guinea 79% of family poultry rearers in Serowe-Palapye Subfowl.As shown in Table 2, chickens predominated in district of Botswana used traditional and human all the villages followed by pigeons and ducks.In the medications to treat diseases and parasites; only 2.11% present study, 82% of women said they owned and used vaccines; 15.79% a combination of traditional reared family chickens while only 18% was owned by remedies and vaccines, whereas 3% of rearers said they men.This probably indicates that family poultry have a did not use any form of treatment and/or control [9].
bearing in the lives of women than men.

Only 16.46% family poultry rearers in Kalabo and
Diseases of poultry: The diseases of village chickens Mongu Districts of Zambia used veterinary drugs, reported in this study were Newcastle disease (NCD), indicating that disease control was mainly through the fowl pox, coccidiosis and saakhubama (swelling of the use of traditional remedies [12].These findings indicate bursa of Fabricius, suspected to be Gumboro).that EVM utilization predominates in the healthcare of Compared to other diseases, NCD was found to occur family poultry.
frequently and caused major losses.The majority of the Traditional medicine (EVM) has served as a found family poultry rearers were able to describe the of alternative medicine, new pharmaceuticals, and symptoms of fowl pox such as scabs around the eyelids healthcare products [5].Due to its wide usage, EVM and wattles.practices need to be investigated and documented.
Eighty percent of the respondents said that they Ethnoveterinary research has as its explicit, overdid not know when NCD occurred while the remainder arching goal the enhancement of livestock productivity (20%) said it occurred from April to January.It, through improved management of animal health, as however, appeared that NCD occurred mainly between informed by an understanding of folk veterinary September and January.Newcastle disease had medicine and related husbandry techniques [1].
different names in different locations.For example, in There has been little documentation of EVM in Etsha it was known as dihamba, muchachapansi in Botswana [13].The objective of this study was to Parakarungu and mokorobalo or korobela in all the document the use of indigenous plants used by family villages.Although NCD is currently known as poultry rearers to treat and control diseases and leroborobo, it appears that the appropriate name would parasites in family poultry in 15 villages of Botswana.
be mokorobalo, as it is the popular name by which it is

Materials and Methods
known by the majority of the rearers countrywide.The name leroborobo is based on the fact that NCD kills a Fifteen villages were randomly selected from a large number of birds within a short time while list of villages in all the 10 districts of Botswana.A total mokorobalo defines the nervous signs of NCD. of 1000 rearers (450 more urban areas, 300 less rural and 250 remote rural) were interviewed across 15

Control of diseases:
villages.As shown in Table-1, the research sites were Table-3 summarizes plant species used in family chosen on the basis of the villages being rural (5), less poultry health management.Nineteen plant species rural (5) and urban (5).
were identified by respondents for the treatment and control of poultry diseases and parasites.Sixty-six Data collection and analysis: A formal questionnaire percent of the respondents said they used traditional was administered to 1000 family poultry rearers in 15 remedies to control and treat diseases, 19% did not use villages.Data were also collected through direct vaccines or remedies, 2% used vaccines to control observation, village walks, interview of passers-by, diseases while 13% used drugs.Because of the low group interviews, meetings with key informants (i.e., number of farmers that vaccinate their flocks, disease traditional leaders, extension agents and chairpersons of outbreaks often occur resulting in high mortalities and village development committees) and also by reviewing economic losses.These findings indicated that the use secondary sources of data.
of traditional remedies predominated in all the villages, Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package especially in the remote areas where drugs and for Social Scientists (SPSS) software.Descriptive data vaccines were not easily accessible.In a similar study, such as mean, range and percentage were used to it was reported [14]  chickens suffering from NCD, whereas 29.4% sought effective some doubted its efficacy suggesting that its for modern veterinary services.Village poultry (also efficacy needed to be evaluated.Tobacco snuff (Nicotiana tabacum) and Eno were also used to control and treat known as family poultry) are never vaccinated with diseases.standards Western-type vaccines [10].Additionally, access The low use of vaccines by the rearers in the present to vaccinations in family poultry is poor although study could be attributable to the fact most vaccines veterinary facilities are improving in most countries come in 1000 doses compared to the small flocks reared and that some veterinary attention is now reaching by families.The average flock size in this study was 14 family flocks [15].birds per household.Another factor that contributed to The most common forms of ethnoveterinary low use of vaccines is lack of housing for family chickens.preparations were decoction, infusion, cold water extract, tincture, fumigation, poultice, and ointment The majority of birds were not confined resulting in and cream [16].According to Table-3, the common bird catching for vaccinations extremely difficult.Only method of preparation is decoction followed by cold four villages (Gantsi, Etsha, Maun and Parakarungu) water extraction.
had a high proportion of rearers that provided housing In the present study, the common veterinary drugs to their flocks, implying that in the remaining villages, used included Terramycin, oxyphen, oxytetracycline vaccination was likely to be difficult to achieve because and sulphazine.Both human and veterinary medications of lack of confinement.Rural and peri-urban communities were used in treatment of diseases.For instance, blue are not easily accessible to modern veterinary information stones that are used by humans to treat wounds and and services, and are less economically endowed albeit tinea were also used to treat fowl pox scabs.Other coping will enormous animal health problems [19].human medications used by the rearers were vicks,

Parasites and control:
disprin and Compral tablets.The use of human The common parasites of poultry reported by medications in the current study is consistent with rearers were tampans, mites, fowl lice and ticks.These previous study [10] that reported that very occasionally findings are in line with previous study [20] that family poultry are given antibiotics originally intended reported that the common parasites of poultry in for human use.
Botswana were mites, fleas, lice, ticks and helminths, In agreement with the results of the present study, with helminths being the most prevalent followed by the previous study [17] in Zimbabwe reported the use mites.Smallholder farmers also use traditional of Aloe spp. in the control and treatment of coccidiosis methods to treat some ailments, especially those caused and other poultry diseases including NCD.Previous by pests [21].As is the case of diseases, traditional study [18] showed that C. grattissimus, E. elephantina remedies in the present study also predominated in the and C. abbreviata are used to treat high blood pressure control and treatment of parasite.The common and U. sanguinea for stroke in humans in Botswana.
remedies used in parasite control included ashes (cold Cassia abbreviata is used in humans when urine is and hot), paraffin, used automobile oil, Jeyes fluid, found to contain some blood.
Cape aloes, potassium permanganate and boiling Potassium permanganate was the common water.Usually, boiling water and ash were poured remedy used by the rearers.The rearers said they used it where birds usually roosted or slept.In addition, ashes before and during disease outbreaks, especially NCD.
were also smeared on the birds.On the other hand, the However, there were divergent views on the efficacy of common chemical dusts were dichlor-diphenylpotassium permanganate in controlling and treating trichlor-methane (DDT) and Karbadust.The rearers diseases.For instance, while some rearers said it was claimed that smearing or rubbing paraffin and used automobile oils on the birds resulted in parasites falling off the birds.The result on the use of used automobile oil is consistent with previous study in Zimbabwe [22].In small ruminants, Veronia conferia (leaves), palm oil and engine oil are used against fleas, ticks and mange, respectively in Nigeria [21].
The rearers mentioned that administering potassium permanganate orally or bathing birds in a solution of potassium permanganate was effective in controlling parasites.The rearers said that oral administration of potassium permanganate makes the blood of birds bitter (acidic) or unpalatable to the parasites, thus helping to control parasites.The use of boiling water and hot ash in the shelter or where birds usually slept was reported to be effective in controlling parasites.Also, bathing birds in a solution of washing detergent such as OMO and SURF brands were reported to be effective against parasites.

Conclusion
Nineteen plant species representing 15 families were used by family poultry rearers to treat and control poultry diseases and parasites.Sixty-six percent of the respondents said they used traditional remedies to control and treat diseases, 19% did not use vaccines or remedies, 2% used vaccines to control diseases while 13% used drugs.Traditional remedies predominated in family poultry health care.These results suggest that scientific investigations should be conducted to ascertain the effectiveness of identified plant species in the treatment and control of diseases and parasites of poultry.

Table - 2
. Poultry species reared in 15 villages that 53.25% of the rural chicken summarise and present results.farmers in Nigeria used EVM for the management of