The use of targeted selective treatments on controlling gastrointestinal nematodes in different sheep categories under grazing system

Marques, Carlo A.T.; Saraiva, Luana A.; Torreão, Jacira N.C.; Silva, Tairon P.D.; Bezerra, Leílson R.; Edvan, Ricardo L.; Araújo, Marcos J.; Nascimento, Romilda R.

doi:10.1590/1678-5150-PVB-4997

ABSTRACT:

Infections with gastrointestinal nematodes can impair both the animal health and performance. Thereby, the aim of this study was to evaluate the use of targeted selective treatments as the FAMACHA^© system and faecal egg count on controlling gastrointestinal nematodes in different sheep categories under grazing system. Thirty Santa Inês sheep, six in each category (six weaning, six weaned lambs, six non-pregnant ewes, six pregnant ewes and six lactating ewes were used. Sheep were weighed, and blood and faecal samples were collected on day 0, 15, 30, 45, 60 and 75 for determination of faecal egg count (FEC), packed cell volume (PCV), total plasma protein (PPT) and the mucosa colour by FAMACHA^© system in the morning (1) and afternoon (2). The faecal egg count was higher (p=0.0039) in weaning and weaned lambs compared to the non-pregnant, pregnant and lactating ewes. Also, FEC differed between ewes with higher counts in lactating ewes. The observation of eye mucosae showed a frequency of 100% of FAMACHA^© scores ranged of 2.45 to 2.91 in the morning, differing (p=0.0494) among the categories, where weaned lambs showed better score. The animal categories and period interaction had a significant (p=0.0148) effect on FAMACHA^© score 1 with better score in weaned lambs compared to the pregnant ewes at day 0, 15 and 75. In addition, weaned lambs were presented better FAMACHA^© score compared with weaning lambs and lactating ewes at day 45 than weaning lambs at day 60 and 75. Packed cell volume in the morning and in the afternoon was influenced by days of collection with lower percentage at 30 days of experiment. The FAMACHA^© system seems to be a suitable method to detect parasite infections. However, use of all available methods increases the accuracy of the diagnosis and promotes better control of gastrointestinal nematodes in grazing sheep.

INDEX TERMS:
Selective treatments; gastrointestinal; nematodes; sheep; grazing system; animal category; eye color; total plasma protein; verminoses

[1] *Corresponding author: tairon.mvet@gmail.com

Ingredients	Chemical composition
Ingredients	DM	CP	EE	TDN	NDF	ADF	Ca	P
Corn meal	87.19	9.98	5.19	67.50	24.55	5.87	0.05	0.49
Soybean meal	88.48	48.76	1.75	80.73	15.37	9.64	0.33	0.57
¹Mineral mixture	97.91	-	-	-	-	-	18.00	13.00
Supplement	88.04	19.17	4.06	67.43	21.02	6.51	0.90	1.13
Andropogon	27.45	7.50	2.02	53.56	74.70	41.97	0.33	0.11

Group	N	Constitution of the experimental groups
I	6	Weaning lambs: lambs from birth until 3 months old.
II	6	Weaned lambs: lambs with 3-6 months old.
III	6	Non-pregnant ewes
IV	6	Pregnant ewes: pregnant females with over 120 days of gestation.
V	6	Lactating ewes: females up to 30 days postpartum.

Effects	BW	BCS	FEC	FAM1	FAM2	PCV1	PCV2	TPP1	TPP2
Animal category	<.0001	<.0001	0.0211	0.0228	0.0260	0.0467	0.0414	<.0001	<.0001
Days of collection (period)	0.1874	0.0570	0.2947	0.0038	0.4838	0.0025	0.0038	0.0779	0.1791
Animal category - period	0.8910	0.4132	0.8633	0.0148	0.7760	0.6065	0.9923	0.5589	0.1957

Variable	Weaning lambs	Weaned lambs	Non-pregnant ewes	Pregnant ewes	Lactating ewes	P value
Body weight (kg)	12.88±1.58d	21.38±1.58c	52.67±129a	47.20±1.29b	44.60±1.52b	<.0001
Body condition score	---	---	2.87±0.11a	2.48±0.11a	2.00±0.13b	<.0001
Fecal egg count	2725.0±0.20a	2229.2±0.20a	225.0±0.16c	263.9±0.16c	983.3±0.19b	0.0211
Famacha score 1 (1-5)	2.75±0.13a	2.45±0.13b	2.80±0.10a	2.91±0.10a	2.88±0.12a	0.0228
Famacha score 2 (1-5)	2.70±0.13	2.70±0.13	2.88±0.10	2.94±0.10	2.80±0.12	0.3260
Packed cell volume 1 (%)	30.04±0.84a	28.45±0.84b	30.25±0.68a	30.16±0.68a	27.63±0.81b	0.0467
Packed cell volume 2 (%)	28.72±0.75ab	27.87±0.75ab	29.90±0.61a	28.11±0.61ab	27.05±0.72b	0.0414
Total plasma protein 1 (g/dL)	5.65±0.11c	6.12±0.11b	6.90±0.09a	7.00±0.09a	6.67±0.11a	<.0001
Total plasma protein 2 (g/dL)	5.62±0.11c	6.12±0.11b	6.90±0.09a	6.85±0.09a	6.30±0.10b	<.0001

	BW	BCS	FEC	FAM 1	FAM 2	PCV 1	PCV 2	TPP1
BCS	0.426*
FEC	-0.288**	0.032ns
FAM 1	0.174**	0.051ns	-0.038ns
FAM 2	0.0956ns	-0.230**	0.002ns	0.304**
PCV 1	0.109ns	0.195ns	-0.031ns	-0.439**	-0.159ns
PCV 2	0.069ns	0.321**	-0.016ns	-0.135ns	-0.386**	0.513*
TPP 1	0.587*	-0.027ns	-0.284**	0.100ns	0.199**	0.118ns	0.121ns
TPP 2	0.523*	0.212**	-0.261**	0.105ns	0.188**	0.119ns	0.202**	0.835*

Brasil

Brasil

The use of targeted selective treatments on controlling gastrointestinal nematodes in different sheep categories under grazing system

O uso de tratamentos seletivos no controle de nematóides gastrointestinais em diferentes categorias de ovinos sob sistema de pastejo

ABSTRACT: