Efficacy of decoquinate in pelleted feed in case of eimeriosis in lambs

Abstract

Eimeriosis of sheep reduces the profitability of the production of wool, leather, meat, and milk, which causes substantial damage to the sheep industry, and therefore requires the introduction of effective means of prevention and treatment of animals from this infestation. The purpose of this study was to establish the efficacy of decoquinate in granular feed in case of lamb eimeriosis. As a result of coproscopic studies according to DSTU 5079 2008 “Veterinary medicine. Methods of laboratory diagnosis of eimerioses” determined the extent of invasion of lambs by oocysts of various Eimeria species, namely E. arloingi – 41%, E. crandallis – 29%, E. intricate – 15%, E. faurei – 15%, which are registered in animals of separate farms of the Cherkasy region. Clinical symptoms of eimeriosis are observed in young animals from the age of one month and are characterized by anaemia of visible mucous membranes, diarrhoea, depression of the general condition, weakness, and predominantly acute course of invasion with high mortality. The manifestation of clinical symptoms of the disease depends on many factors, namely the age of lambs, the sanitary situation on the farm, changes in feed fattening programs, stressful situations that arise due to the movement of sheep to other premises or weaning lambs from ewes. In older lambs, as a rule, the disease has a chronic and asymptomatic course. In such animals, Eimeria oocysts are excreted in faeces in much smaller quantities than in one-month-old lambs during an acute course of infection. The maximum values of invasion extensiveness (100%) and invasion intensiveness (12,000 oocysts in 1 g of faeces) were found in two-month-old lambs. Invasion in the digestive canal of these animals worsens the absorption of feed nutrients, which contributes to a decrease in the average daily weight gain (on average 155.3 g/day), which increases with treatment of animals with decoquinate (on average 185.7 g/day). In general, the use of decoquinate in sick lambs at a dose of 1 mg/kg of body weight for 28 days shows prominent therapeutic and preventive effectiveness. Therewith, extensefficiency is 90%, and parasite carrier is observed only in 10% of animals. Therefore, for the effective treatment of lambs of distinct age groups, the decoquinate preparation can be recommended, which is especially important for farms with intensive rearing of young sheep