Abstract
The study was conducted to investigate the effect of supplementing Leucaena pallida in reducing gastrointestinal parasite load and to evaluate growth response of Horro ewe lambs to supplementation and antihelmentic treatment. A total of 32 Horro ewe lambs were randomly assigned to four treatments: Grazing, grazing + antihelmintics only, grazing + 500 g dried Leucaena pallida leaves + 200 g ground maize grain per head/day, and grazing + 200 g noug cake + 200 g ground maize grain per head/day with eight replicates. Feeding L. pallida leaves increased (P < 0.05) growth rates and reduced (P < 0.05) nematode parasite egg counts (Eggs per gram of faeces (EPG)) compared with un-supplemented Horro ewe lambs. Packed cell volume (PCV) was significantly increased (P < 0.05) in Horro ewe lambs supplemented with L. pallida and concentrate and treated with antihelmentic compared to the animals assigned to grazing alone. The results revealed that supplementation of L. pallida with concentrate have beneficial anti-parasitic properties and improved the growth performance of Horro ewe lambs. Key words: Eggs per gram of faeces (EPG), packed cell volume (PCV), nematode, Leucaena pallida, Horro ewe lambs.
Highlights
Productivity of small ruminants in many tropical areas is often low and has been related to limitations caused by parasites, inadequate nutrition, unimproved genotypes and poor management (Devendra and Burns, 1983)
Eggs per gram of faeces (EPG) were significant reduced (P < 0.05) in Horro ewe lambs supplemented with L. pallida and treated with antihelmentic treatment compared to the grazing alone (Tables 2 and 3)
Packed cell volume (PCV) was significantly increased (P < 0.05) in Horro ewe lambs supplemented with L. pallida and concentrate and treated with antihelmentic compared to the animals assigned to grazing alone (Table 4)
Summary
Productivity of small ruminants in many tropical areas is often low and has been related to limitations caused by parasites, inadequate nutrition, unimproved genotypes and poor management (Devendra and Burns, 1983). About 80% of the national sheep population is reported to harbor varying degrees of infection with different species of nematode parasites. Parasitic infection has a significant effect in reducing productivity of sheep. Reduction in productivity can be expressed in terms of slow growth rate and mortality. Studies show that parasitism is one of the causes of mortality in sheep. Out of the deaths in Horro sheep, 8.7%
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