Evaluation of the in vivo efficacy of pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo) seeds against gastrointestinal helminths of chickens

Abstract

The present study was conducted to evaluate the in vivo efficacy of pumpkin seeds as an alternative natural anthelmintic forchickens. Ninety Philippine Jolo native chickens of mixed sexes, aged 4–5 months and weighing 1–2 kg, were randomly distributed intothree treatment groups with 30 chickens per group. Control group A was fed basic mash feed, group B received feed mixed with groundpumpkin seeds (2 g/bird per day), and group C received mebendazole-medicated feed (30 mg/kg body weight). Fifteen randomlyselected chickens from each group were euthanized and necropsied before treatment, and the remaining fifteen in each group wereeuthanized and necropsied at 3 days after the end of the treatment. Gastrointestinal worm and fecal egg counts were determined. Threegenera of helminths were identified from necropsy: Ascaridia spp., Heterakis spp., and Raillietina spp. Results indicate that comparedto mebendazole, pumpkin seed was moderately effective in reducing worm counts of Ascaridia spp. and Raillietina spp., marginallyactive in reducing worm counts of Heterakis spp., and moderately effective in reducing egg output of the worms. The results suggest thatpumpkin seed has the potential to be used as an alternative anthelmintic for chickens