There are concerns that apparently healthy chickens may transmit potentially pathogenic pathogens
that could threaten not only poultry industry, but also public health. This investigative study
was carried out in Jos, Nigeria to determine the prevalent bacterial agents in the oropharynxs of
apparently healthy chickens. Four hundred (400) oro-pharyngeal swabs were collected from 400
apparently healthy chickens for bacteriological analysis. Swab from each sample was cultured on
7% defibrinated sheep blood, Casein Sucrose Yeast (CSY) agar and MacConkey. Oro-pharyngeal
swabs were cultured indirectly by inoculating into 5 ml of brain heart infusion broth (BHI), incubated
at 37°C for 24 h and then streaked unto Casein Sucrose Yeast (CSY) agar, MacConkey agar
and Blood agar. Presumptive colonies of bacterial agents were subjected to conventional biochemical
characterization. The result of biochemical test identified the following bacteria: Staphylococcus
aureus 82 (20.5%), Escherichia coli 53 (13.3%), Klebsiella pneumonia 35 (8.8%) and
Proteus species 26 (6.6%), Pasteurella multocida 5 (1.3%) among others. Staphylococcus aureus
(20.5%) was the highest followed by Escherichia coli (13.3%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (8.8%) and
Pasteurella multocida (1.3%) was the least. It was concluded that the oropharynxs of apparently
healthy chickens harbored a lot of bacterial agents which could cause infections when the immune
system was compromised.