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. 2024 Feb 12;14(4):603.
doi: 10.3390/ani14040603.

Relevance of Individual Data When Assessing the Gastrointestinal Nematode Infection Level, Nutritional and Productive Variables in a Tropical Farm Context: The Median Isn't the Message

Gabriel Andrés Ortíz-Domínguez  1 , Pedro Geraldo González-Pech  1 , Juan Felipe de Jesús Torres-Acosta  1 , Javier Ventura-Cordero  2 , Juan Villalba  3 , Carlos Alfredo Sandoval-Castro  1
Affiliations

Relevance of Individual Data When Assessing the Gastrointestinal Nematode Infection Level, Nutritional and Productive Variables in a Tropical Farm Context: The Median Isn't the Message

Gabriel Andrés Ortíz-Domínguez et al. Animals (Basel). .

Abstract

We evaluated the relationship between individual and herd GIN infection level, nutrition, production performance and anemia parameters in a tropical farm context. Fifty-four female goats were monitored to assess their body condition score (BCS, nutritional status indicator), live weight (LW) and LW gain (LWG, both used as production level indicators), FAMACHA© and hematocrit (HT, both used as anemia indicators). Goats browsed for 4 h in a tropical forest and received balanced feed and chopped grass. The eggs per gram of feces (EPG) indicated the GIN burden, with fecal samples obtained at 7:00 (AM) and 15:00 h (PM.) from each goat at six sampling points during the study. The variables and their relationship with GIN burdens were analyzed using Kruskall-Wallis, ANOVA and Friedman tests and Spearman correlations. The fecal samples obtained in the AM and PM can be equally representative of parasitic burdens (similar and highly correlated). However, the EPG of individual goats from periods of 30 days apart can be considered independent. The BCS and LWG varied between sampling times (p < 0.05), whereas EPG, LW and HT did not (p > 0.05). The GIN burden was negatively correlated with HT and BCS (-0.21, p = 0.01 for each one). The individual pattern of infection demonstrates the true impact of GINs on their hosts. Additionally, feeding and nutritional status may present important variations influencing the performance of the goats more than the impact of GINs under the farm conditions of the present study. However, GIN infection contributed to the variation in goat health and productivity in this tropical farm.

Keywords: Criollo goats; body condition; farming conditions; gastrointestinal nematodes; productive parameters.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Sampling organization of the studied variables: egg count per gram of feces (EPG), coloration of the mucosa (FAM, FAMACHA©), body condition score (BCS), live weight (LW) and live weight gain (LWG, only five times) assessed every 15 days and hematocrit (HT) assessed monthly in adult goats browsing tropical deciduous forest.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Individual quartile position (shaded boxes) according to the distribution of EPG values of GIN infection of goats during the same five sampling points.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Mean (±SE) values (blue spots) at each sampling point for body condition score (BCS, points) and live weight gain (LWG, Kg/d) of adult goats grazing in the tropical deciduous forest. The respective p values for comparisons between sampling points are shown at the top of each graph. a,b,c Means with different letters between each period differ significantly (p < 0.05).
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