author(s)
Zubeda Butt, Azra A. Shaikh, Shakeel Ahmed Memon, Bhojoo Mal

abstract
Birds in a traditional and open environment carry a huge risk of parasitic infections. This study was carried out to evaluate the prevalence rate and species diversity of cestode parasites in local chicken (Gallus domesticus). For this purpose live chicken (Gallus domesticus)were randomly collected from different villages of district Hyderabad, Sindh, Pakistan. A total of 200 chickens were dissected and examined. Over all prevalence of infection was (94.5%). Three species of cestode parasites were recovered from the intestine of infected chickens. The identified cestode species and their prevalence were Cotugnia digonopora (94.5%), Choanotaenia infundibulum (89.5%), and Raillietina cesticillus (83.5%). The results of present study revealed that sub-standard poultry farming is a major factor for parasitic infection in local chicken which ultimately cause heavy loss.