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Background: Antibiotics are overused in poultry industry, and this has resulted in the emergence of multidrug resistant (MDR) bacteria. The current study is aimed at determining antimicrobial resistance (AMR) patterns of Enterobacteriaceae isolates from poultry in the west of Algeria. Methodology: Different chicken samples (kidney, bone and intestine) were collected and processed for culture using standard microbiological methods to isolate Enterobacteriaceae. Isolates were identified biochemically using API 20E, while isolated Escherichia coli was typed for O1, O2 and O78 antigens using slide agglutination with specific antisera. All identified isolates were tested against 26 antibiotic disks using the Kirby Bauer disk diffusion method according to the CLSI standards. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of chloramphenicol, tetracycline, nalidixic acid, ofloxacin and ciprofloxacin were determined for selected isolates. Conjugative plasmid transfer, plasmid incompatibility and colicin tests were used to detect transferable resistance traits in 48 selected E. coli isolates. Results: One hundred and thirty-eight bacteria species were isolated, which included Escherichia coli (n=107), Salmonella spp (n=11), Klebsiella spp (n=8), Enterobacter spp (n=7), Pseudomonas spp (n=3) and Citrobacter spp (n=2). Serotyping identified 24 agglutinable E. coli isolates with O78:K80 (n=11), O1:K1 (n=9) and O2:K1 (n=4). Antibiotic susceptibility showed high frequency of E. coli resistance to nalidixic acid (89.7%), tetracycline (82.2%), streptomycin (82.2%), nitrofurantoin (68.2%), ampicillin (45.8%), ticarcillin (44.9%), piperacillin (42.1%), and chloramphenicol (15.9%). The percentage of multi-drug resistance isolates (resistance to more than 3 antibiotic classes) was 87.9%. The results of conjugative transfer in 48 E. coli isolates shows that the most important resistance traits transferred by plasmids are ASTeSuTmp (18.5%) and SuTmp (12.3%). Conclusion: This study confirmed the presence of multiple antibiotic resistant E. coli and other members of family Enterobacteriaceae in poultry in Algeria, and showed that these antibiotic resistance traits are easily disseminated by plasmids, with dire consequences on human health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]