Abstract:
Data collected monthly over a period of two years were live weight,
packed cell volume (PCV), nematode faecal egg counts (FECs) and
coccidial oocyst counts from faecal analyses for 100 mixed age (3-7
years) indigenous Tswana does. The aims of this experiment were to
determine seasonal FECs and coccidial oocysts in these goats and
quantify the relationships of these burdens to liveweight and PCV. FECs
significantly ( P<0.05) varied with season, with the warmer seasons viz
spring, summer and autumn having higher log (x+1) parasite burdens than
the cooler winter, while seasonal trends for coccidial oocysts were not
obvious. PCV was also significantly ( P<0.05) lower in the warmer
seasons than winter. FECs and coccidial oocysts in all seasons were less
than the mean log (x+1) of 3.3 inferred to reduce production in small
stock. Correlation coefficients were strongly negative: -0.95 for FECs
and liveweight and -0.84 for FECS and PCV, indicating that these worms
had a negative impact on productivity. A further study should be
conducted to quantify the effects of controlling these parasites during
the warm seasons on productivity.
