Effects of housing, type of pasture and roughage supplementation on nematode parasitism in goats

Abstract

The effects of grazing on native "caatinga", where the animals can browse, and housing on ground floor (T1); natural "caatinga" and raised slatted floor (T2); cleared "caatinga" and raised floor (T3); and cleared "caatinga", raised floor and roughage supplementation at drought (T4) on the nematode load of tracer goats were evaluated. In each treatment, a small herd of goats was kept as contaminators. The Haemonchus contortus parasitism was high and its transmission occurred during the rainy season. The H. contortus load, in the rainy seasons, was affected by treatments (P < 0.05), years, months, and treatment x month and year x month interactions (P < 0.005). The highest parasitism was observed in the most rainy year. The H. contortus transmission was low up to March, increased in April, and fell in June. Grazing in cleared "caatinga" (T3 and T4) increased the parasitism. Housing in slatted floor (T2) and supplementation (T4) showed no effect on parasitism.