A study was carried out to identify and estimate the prevalence of ecto- and endoparasites of village chicken between April and July 2008 in three local councils of Enugu state, Nigeria. A total of 1038 chickens comprising of 468 chicks, 207 growers and 363 adults were examined during the house to house survey for ectoparasites, gastrointestinal helminths and coccidia infections. Our finding showed that 41% were infected with ectoparasites with lice, fleas, and mites having prevalence rates of 62.2%, 35.7% and 2.1%, respectively. Helminths and coccidia had prevalence of 35.5% each. Among the helminths Ascaridia, galli was the most dominant species (17.2%). Generally, there was a significantly higher helminth infestation relative to the ectoparasites ( ), high prevalence of mixed infections and absence of tick infestation. Parasitism could be big constraint to production in the study area and we recommend a sustainable control strategy. 1. Introduction The Poultry industry occupies an important position in the provision of animal protein (meat and egg) to man and generally plays a vital role in the national economy as a revenue provider. Poultry is one of the most intensively reared of the domesticated species and one of the most developed and profitable animal production enterprises [1]. Its importance in national economies of developing countries and its role in improving the nutritional status and income of many small farmers and those with small land holdings as well as landless has been recognised by various scholars and rural development agencies in the last two decades [2–4]. Poultry production in Africa and parts of Asia is still distinctively divided into commercialized and village enterprise subsector, each with its peculiarities. The former comprises of strains specifically developed on the basis of primary products into parent stocks, layers, and broilers each with its specialized equipments and management approach. The latter however, consists of indigenous domestic fowls (Gallus domesticus) variously referred to as local or rural chickens, backyard poultry or village chickens, and or free range chickens. These refer to breeds strains ecotypes with no improvement history [5] and chickens indigenous to the particular locality they are found. These constitute a rich genetic resource base for any future genetic improvement and production of strains adaptable to the tropics [6]. In most African countries, backyard poultry account for more than 60% of the total national poultry flocks accorded an asset value of more than 5.75 billion US$ [7]. It
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