Abstract
Resistance to gastro-intestinal nematode (GIN) in small ruminant is expected to arise from protein-rich rather than from energy-rich feeds. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of the quality of the dietary proteins on the response of Creole goats to Haemonchus contortus. Three diets were compared: no supplementation (Hay: hay ad libitum), Control supplement (CS: hay ad libitum +2% BW of CS at 70 g of by-pass proteins/kg) and supplement enriched in rumen-protected proteins (RPP: hay ad libitum +2% BW of RPP at 139 g of by-pass proteins/kg). The FEC (faecal eggs counts) and the TFEC (total faecal eggs excreted/day) were significantly lower in the RPP. No difference was found between the supplemented diets for the total number of nematodes, but the RPP reduced the parasite prolificacy. The highest IgA responses were observed in animals with the highest nematode burden (Hay compared with CS diets). However, while the FEC and the TFEC were lower in animals feed with the RPP the IgA response were similar to those of the Hay. The IgA response that control GIN egg production in sheep could be one mediator of the resistance to H. contortus induced with by-pass proteins in goats.
Highlights
Small ruminant breeding, like other livestock production systems, faces the major challenge of increasing its output with fewer resources by environmentally-friendly practices
The average daily gain (ADG) was higher for the animals fed with the Control supplement (CS) diet compared with the rumen-protected proteins (RPP) (P < 0.001)
In ruminants the proteins arriving in the intestine are a mix of dietary proteins that escaped from the microbial degradation in the rumen, microbial proteins synthetized from dietary amino acids and endogenous intestinal proteins[14]
Summary
Like other livestock production systems, faces the major challenge of increasing its output with fewer resources by environmentally-friendly practices. In addition to these constraints, internal parasites among which gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) threaten small ruminant husbandry throughout the world due to the evolution of anthelmintics resistance, the mainstay of current treatments[1,2]. Numerous studies have shown that the nutritional status affects significantly the host response against GIN infection[5]. Numerous studies have shown that nutrient supplementation improve either the resilience or the resistance to GIN infections[9,10]. Since high level of protein supplementation is not an option when production efficiency is an objective, manipulation of dietary protein that affects the quality of intestinal proteins is a key step for fine-tuning of nutritional strategies for a better control of GIN
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