Sheep In Pens Research Articles

Distribution and seasonal fluctuation of visceral leishmaniasis vectors sandflie in Lüliang City of Shanxi Province in 2023

To investigate the distribution and seasonal fluctuations of visceral leishmaniasis vectors sandflies in Lüliang City, Shanxi Province, so as to provide insights into assessment of the visceral leishmaniasis transmission risk and formulation of visceral leishmaniasis control measures. A total of 12 natural villages were sampled from Shilou County, Lishi District, Lanxian County, Linxian County and Wenshui County in Lüliang City, Shanxi Province from June to September, 2023, and sandflies were captured using light traps from 7 breeding habitats, including farmers' houses, sheep pens, cattle pens, chicken coops, pig pens, mule and horse pens, and loess-cave dwellings. Following morphological identification of the sandfly species, the distribution of sandflies and the seasonal fluctuations of the sandfly density were analyzed. In addition, the Leishmania was detected in sandflies using a real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR assay. A total of 2 831 sandflies were captured with 156 light traps in Lüliang City from June to September, 2023, including 2 638 female sandflies (93.18%) and 193 male sandflies (6.82%), and the average density was 16.91 sandflies/(light-night). The seasonal fluctuations of the sandfly density all appeared a unimodal distribution in all survey sites, and the sandfly density peaked in July and then declined rapidly. Among all types of breeding habitats, the greatest sandfly density was found in sheep pens [39.04 sandflies/(light-night)]. In addition, 4.08% (2/49) of the sandfly samples were tested positive for Leishmania nucleic acid as revealed by the real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR assay. Sandflies were widely distributed in Lüliang City, Shanxi Province in 2023, and the peak of the sandfly density was observed in July, which had a visceral leishmaniasis transmission risk. Intensified surveillance of visceral leishmaniasis and sandfly vectors is required and targeted vector control is recommended.

The distribution characteristics of aerosol bacteria in different types of sheepfolds.

With the development of modern sheep raising technology, the increasing density of animals in sheep house leads to the accumulation of microbial aerosols in sheep house. It is an important prerequisite to grasp the characteristics of bacteria in aerosols in sheep house to solve the problems of air pollution and disease prevention and control in sheep house. In this study, the microorganisms present in the air of sheep houses were investigated to gain insights into the structure of bacterial communities and the prevalence of pathogenic bacteria. Samples from six sheep pens in each of three sheep farms, totaling 18, were collected in August 2022 from Ningxia province, China. A high-volume air sampler was utilized for aerosol collection within the sheep housing followed by DNA extraction for 16S rRNA sequencing. Employing high-throughput 16S rRNA sequencing technology, we conducted an in-depth analysis of microbial populations in various sheep pen air samples, enabling us to assess the community composition and diversity. The results revealed a total of 11,207 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) within the bacterial population across the air samples, encompassing 152 phyla, 298 classes, 517 orders, 853 families, 910 genera, and 482 species. Alpha diversity and beta diversity analysis indicated that differences in species diversity, evenness and coverage between different samples. At the bacterial phylum level, the dominant bacterial groups are Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, and Actinobacteria, among which Firmicutes (97.90-98.43%) is the highest. At the bacterial genus level, bacillus, Bacteroides, Fusobacterium, etc. had higher abundance, with Bacillus (85.47-89.87%) being the highest. Through an in-depth analysis of microbial diversity and a meticulous examination of pathogenic bacteria with high abundance in diverse sheep house air samples, the study provided valuable insights into the microbial diversity, abundance, and distinctive features of prevalent pathogenic bacteria in sheep house air. These findings serve as a foundation for guiding effective disease prevention and control strategies within sheep farming environments.

Fecal biomarkers and micromorphological indicators of sheep penning and flooring at La Fortaleza pre-Hispanic site (Gran Canaria, Canary Islands)

This study explores the lipid content and micromorphological features of sediment samples from two dwelling structures at the pre-Hispanic site of La Fortaleza in Santa Lucía de Tirajana (Gran Canaria, Spain). Previous field identification of possible sedimentary excrements inside the dwellings motivated chromatographic fecal biomarker analysis and micromorphology. The micromorphological samples reveal a complex dung-rich stratified sequence involving different layers of mixed composition, including reworked dung, clay, wood ash, and domestic refuse. The results of the lipid analysis corroborate the fecal nature of the sample and indicate the source animal: sheep. Coupled with the field evidence, the data suggest that the deposit is anthropogenic and represents a sequence of floor foundations, dung floors, and domestic and architectural refuse. This study provides valuable taxonomic and site use data for the understanding of the aboriginal societies of the Canary Islands and shows the efficacy of combining field observations with high-resolution geoarchaeological methods.

Sheep penning for agro-pastoral economy and restoration of soil fertility

Sheep penning for agro-pastoral economy and restoration of soil fertility

Optimization Model for Captive Breeding of Lake Sheep Based on Space Utilization

Power Lake sheep have excellent characteristics such as fast early growth, early sexual maturity, four-season estrus and can be kept in captivity, etc. It is of great significance to explore the development of appropriate production plans to improve the space utilization of farms in order to increase the annual turnout of lake sheep. In this paper, under the condition of continuous production, in order to determine the reasonable number of breeding rams and basic ewes in the farm and estimate the range of the annualized number of sheep, we used a set of inequalities to depict the breeding cycle of the lake sheep from the spatial and temporal dimensions, and established a model to analyze the number of annualized number of sheep under the condition of deterministic factors, and based on the analytical model, we solved the gap between the number of standard sheep pens and the number of standard sheep pens in the existing one, under the requirement of the farms to have not less than 1500 sheep pens per year. gap in the number of standard sheep pens. On the basis of the above model, taking into account the influence of uncertain factors such as the success rate of mating, the number of lambs delivered and the mortality rate, an optimization algorithm for fluctuating reproduction of lake sheep was adopted to achieve the optimization of the production plan in order to maximize the economic benefits.

Modelling the Unidentified Abortion Burden from Four Infectious Pathogenic Microorganisms (Leptospira interrogans, Brucella abortus, Brucella ovis, and Chlamydia abortus) in Ewes Based on Artificial Neural Networks Approach: The Epidemiological Basis for a Control Policy.

A two-stage cluster survey design was conducted to estimate the seroprevalence of abortifacient microorganisms and to identify putative factors of infectious abortion. The overall seroprevalence of Brucella was 70.7%, while Leptospira spp. was 55.2%, C. abortus was 21.9%, and B. ovis was 7.4%. Serological detection with four abortion-causing microorganisms was determined only in 0.87% of sheep sampled. The best GLM is integrated via serological detection of serovar Hardjo and Brucella ovis in animals of the slopes with elevation between 2600 and 2800 meters above sea level from the municipality of Xalatlaco. Other covariates included in the GLM, such as the sheep pen built with materials of metal grids and untreated wood, dirt and concrete floors, bed of straw, and the well water supply were also remained independently associated with infectious abortion. Approximately 80% of those respondents did not wear gloves or masks to prevent the transmission of the abortifacient zoonotic microorganisms. Sensitizing stakeholders on good agricultural practices could improve public health surveillance. Further studies on the effect of animal-human transmission in such a setting is worthwhile to further support the One Health initiative.

Spatio-Temporal-Based Identification of Aggressive Behavior in Group Sheep.

In order to solve the problems of low efficiency and subjectivity of manual observation in the process of group-sheep-aggression detection, we propose a video streaming-based model for detecting aggressive behavior in group sheep. In the experiment, we collected videos of the sheep's daily routine and videos of the aggressive behavior of sheep in the sheep pen. Using the open-source software LabelImg, we labeled the data with bounding boxes. Firstly, the YOLOv5 detects all sheep in each frame of the video and outputs the coordinates information. Secondly, we sort the sheep's coordinates using a sheep tracking heuristic proposed in this paper. Finally, the sorted data are fed into an LSTM framework to predict the occurrence of aggression. To optimize the model's parameters, we analyze the confidence, batch size and skipping frame. The best-performing model from our experiments has 93.38% Precision and 91.86% Recall. Additionally, we compare our video streaming-based model with image-based models for detecting aggression in group sheep. In sheep aggression, the video stream detection model can solve the false detection phenomenon caused by head impact feature occlusion of aggressive sheep in the image detection model.

The Traditional Sheep Penning System: An Exploratory Study on Farmers’ Preferences, Farmer-Pastoralist Relationships and Economics of Sheep Penning in Telangana, India

Penning of livestock especially in the southern Indian peninsula can be traced back to the Neolithic age. The presence of ‘Ashmounds’ across most parts of the southern Indian peninsula indicates a complex agro-pastoral economy flourishing since the Neolithic era. Contemporary studies on sheep penning in India, however, remain mainly focused on its contribution to soil fertility and relevance to organic farming and economics, but very few studies have focussed on the farmers’ preference for sheep penning, farmer-pastoralist relationships and sheep penning economy in the backdrop of a rapidly changing agriculture landscape in the Telangana state of India. Observations of the study indicate that changes in agricultural practices and decrease in commons have led to changes in the sheep flock size, seasonal migration pattern of pastoralists and farmers’ preference for sheep penning in the study area. Participant farmers of the study, who practice both penning and application of synthetic fertilizer, reported to have incurred relatively lesser input costs than the farmers who exclusively rely on synthetic fertilizers. Penning was reported to be the second major source of household income for the pastoralists who participated in the study, next to the sale of live animals.

Profil Hematologi Induk Domba dengan Pemberian Pakan Flushing Berbeda

This study aimed to analyze the hematological profiles of late pragnant sheep fed by flushing ration. This research used twelve multiparous lactating ewes of thin tale local sheep, with the average body weight of 29,75 ± 6,20 kg head-1 and placed in individual sheep pen. This research used a randomized block design (RBD) with 4x3 that was grouped based on body weight of ewes. The treatments consisted of R1 = treatment without flushing, R2 = flushing treatments before and after matting, R3 = flushing treatment same with R2 plus during in the middle of pregnancy, R4 = flushing treatment same with R3 plus during at the end of pregnancy. Ratio forages and concentrate in the ration were 30:70% based on dry matter basis. The observed variables were hematological profiles and nutrient intake. The data were analyzed using ANOVA and the significance of treatments was continued to have the analysis through Duncan test. The results showed that the treatments did not affect significantly to the hematological profiles nor the nutrients intake, except to the amount of white blood cell. The conclusion of this research was the different flushing management for the late pregnancy ewes did not give a significant effect on hematological profiles and nutrient consumption.
 Key words: flushing, hematology, local thin tale sheep ewes, mating

Feminism in Thamizhselvi's Ponnacharam Novel

Feminism, which is the right half of the world, is being suppressed, ruled, and enslaved for various circumstances and reasons. Feminism is the awakening from this slavery, liberated, thinking about their lives and with the intention of progressing in life. The feminist tendency was being talked about very seriously in the 1990s. Having initially fought against the most horrendous oppression, it now exists at many levels of society. At the beginning of the novel, an eight-year-old girl named Ponnacharam is introduced by the author through a goat-grazing scene. Her birth is viewed as an unwanted birth. Ponnacharam was the eighth child born to the Saatthaiya and Kurunthayi couple. Being born as the eighth, the mother does not dare repent and give it up and puts the child at the feet of the Naganar temple priest. Starting from the fact that he gives the child the name 'Ponnacharam' and sends it away, the life in the sheep pen becomes the life of this child. Ponnacharam transforms herself into a person who loves that life very much. She is shown to have taken to shepherding goats at the age of seven and has been doing it with some kind of commitment. She, who drives herds while tending goats, does not sit in one place while she is in trouble. The fact that she liked the work of herding the sheep with her father, grazing the goat with her mother, boiling rice and water in the hamlet, keeping the sheep in the stable, and cleaning the dung of the sheep would reveal Ponnacharam's professional interest. Thus, the nature of the feminist characters in Tamilselvi's novels can be understood.

Nature‐based solutions in soil restoration for improving agricultural productivity

AbstractSoil is a living and dynamic body, which is prone to degradation under conventional agricultural practices. Healthy soil is one of the most important pillars of sustainability as it delivers several ecosystem services along with its control on microbial activity, nutrient recycling, and decomposition. Nature‐based solutions can play an important role in restoring soil quality for enhanced agricultural productivity and sustainability. This article discusses various nature‐based options available for improving soil quality. Indigenous practices such as sheep penning, tank silt application, green manuring, and refuse from croplands and households have the potential to restore and maintain soil fertility. Biofertilizers can add nutrients (N fixers), fixe up to 300 kg N ha through biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) and facilitate (nutrient solubilizer and mobilizers) nutrient availability in the soil. Biochar, a commonly used product, can increase soil moisture availability by 8%–10% and aids in mitigating climate change through C‐sequestration. Biochar may have a climate change mitigation potential of 1.8 Pg CO2‐C equivalent per year. When added to the soil, it not only acts as a nutrient source; but also acts as a soil amendment. Biogas slurry, the effluent from biogas reactors, contains various nutrient elements that can enrich soil fertility. The holistic approach in a farming system, through integration of different enterprises, reduces dependence on off‐farm resources. Soil management through nature‐based options will maintain crop productivity and sustainability in the long run without any adverse effects on the environment.

A comparative study of single Theileria lestoquardi and mixed infections with Theileria ovis

BackgroundEpidemiological surveys in Oman have revealed a high prevalence of the co-occurrence of the pathogenic Theileria lestoquardi and the non-pathogenic Theileria ovis among sheep in the Barka region, Oman. Our most recent data illustrated an interaction and reduced mortality risk in animals co-infected with T. lestoquardi and T. ovis, suggesting that the latter confers protection against pathogenicity of T. lestoquardi. The present study extends the above findings and examines disease outcomes; clinical markers, hematological parameters, and parasite density in mixed and single T. lestoquardi infections.MethodsA total of 390 blood samples were collected from 16 sheep pens located in Barka, Oman between July and November 2019. Theileria spp. were detected and quantified using qPCR assay targeting 18S rRNA, and the extent of genetic diversity was estimated by a panel of T. lestoquardi specific micro- and mini-satellites. The association of some disease markers with the presence of Theileria spp. and genetic diversity was tested.ResultsTheileria spp. were detected in 75 (19.2%) sheep; of these 65 (86.7%) had mixed infections (T. lestoquardi plus T. ovis), 8 (10.6%) were infected with T. lestoquardi alone, and 2 (2.7%) with only T. ovis. Exotic breeds had a higher risk for Theileria spp. infection. The density (18S rRNA gene copies) of both parasites was higher in single infection against mixed infection, and there was a relatively lower density of T. lestoquardi in mixed infections. However, there was no difference in hematological indices between single T. lestoquardi and mixed infections. High genetic diversity was observed among T. lestoquardi in Barka, with no differences of T. lestoquardi in single and mixed infections. The extent of diversity seen in Barka was higher (He = 0.772) than that reported in Oman in 2019 (He = 0.582), with distinct T. lestoquardi genotypes.ConclusionThe lower density of T. lestoquardi as mixed infection with T. ovis compared to single infection supports the hypothesis that T. ovis confers protection against lethal T. lestoquardi infection. However, there were no differences in disease correlations (clinical markers, hematological parameters, and density of parasites) or the extent of diversity of T. lestoquardi between the two types of infection. The presence of distinct T. lestoquardi genotypes in Barka, compared to that reported earlier in Oman, likely reflects movement of carrier animals and highlights the need for further analysis of the parasite populations to inform novel approaches for controlling malignant ovine theileriosis.Graphical

Re-isolation of Wuxiang Virus from Wild Sandflies Collected from Yangquan County, China.

We previously isolated a new species of the genus Phlebovirus from wild sandflies collected from Wuxiang County in central China, which named the Wuxiang virus (WUXV). In this study, we re-isolated the WUXV from wild sandflies collected from two villages in Yangquan County, China in 2019. Four virus isolates that caused cytopathic effects in BHK-21 cells were successfully isolated from sandfly specimens collected from chicken pens and sheep pens. Phylogenetic analyses of the L, M and S gene segments of the viruses revealed that the four virus strains represented the previously isolated WUXV. The minimum infection rate (MIR) of the virus isolated from the sheep pen was 3.21, and the MIR of the virus isolated from the chicken pen was 3.45. The positive rates of Wuxiang virus neutralizing antibodies in serum samples of local healthy people and domestic chickens were 8.7% (4/46) and 100% (4/4), respectively, suggesting that Wuxiang virus can infect human and animal. In view of the fact that Wuxiang virus is infectious to humans and animals and has a relatively wide geographical distribution in China, it is of great public health significance to strengthen the investigation and study on the infection status of Wuxiang virus in humans and animals.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12250-021-00398-4.

SCREENING OF ASPERGILLUS NIGER ISOLATED FROM SOIL FOR PECTINASE PRODUCTION

This study was conducted to screen for pectinase production by Aspergillus niger isolated from soil samples collected from three different locations within Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, namely; botanical garden, refuse dump and sheep pen sites. A total of fifteen (15) soil samples were collected from different locations and used for isolation by a cultural method. Isolates suspected to be Aspergillus niger were further identified by microscopic examination of the lactophenol cotton blue stained-preparation and slide culture technique. The isolates were then screened in a pectin-containing medium for their pectinase activity. The isolates were further subjected to pectinase production using citrus pectin as the substrate under submerged fermentation conditions. Seven (7) isolates were confirmed to be Aspergillus niger with percentage occurrence of 60% each from sheep pen (SP) and refuse dumpsites (RD), and 20% from the botanical garden (BG). Aspergillus niger RD3 produced the highest zone of pectin hydrolysis (53 ± 1.1 mm) while isolate RD5 produced the lowest (35 ± 3.1 mm). Under submerged fermentation conditions, Aspergillus niger SP5 had the highest pectinase activity of 2.92 U/mL while isolate RD4 had the lowest pectinase activity of 1.29 U/mL. Aspergillus niger can be readily isolated from various soil types with the highest frequency in soils from sheep pen and refuse dumpsites. All the Aspergillus niger isolates demonstrated the potential for pectinase production. The study reveals the potential of various Aspergillus niger isolates from different soil in the production of pectinase.

Characterization of particulate and gaseous pollutants from a French dairy and sheep farm

Agricultural activities highly contribute to atmospheric pollution, but the diversity and the magnitude of their emissions are still subject to large uncertainties. A field measurement campaign was conducted to characterize gaseous and particulate emissions from an experimental farm in France containing a sheep pen and a dairy stable. During the campaign, more than four hundred volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were characterized using an original combination of online and off-line measurements. Carbon dioxide (CO2) and ammonia (NH3) were the most concentrated compounds inside the buildings, followed by methanol, acetic acid and acetaldehyde. A CO2 mass balance model was used to estimate NH3 and VOC emission rates. To our knowledge, this study constitutes the first evaluation of emission rates for most of the identified VOCs. The measurements show that the dairy stable emitted more VOCs than the sheep pen. Despite strong VOC and NH3 emissions, the chemical composition of particles indicates that gaseous farm emissions do not affect the loading of fine particles inside the farm and is mainly explained by the low residence time inside the buildings. The experimental dataset obtained in this work will help to improve emissions inventories for agricultural activities.

UPAYA PENINGKATAN PENDAPATAN EKONOMI MASYARAKAT BAKALAN KRAJAN SECARA BERKELANJUTAN MELALUI EKSTENSIFIKASI PETERNAKAN JANGKRIK DAN DOMBA

The potential of human resources and natural resources in the village of krajan will not be maximally exploited. Potential Human Resources include the ability of the community to work together in livestock business and Natural Resources including the availability of abundant forage forage in the rainy season. The use of fodder forage for sheep and cattle feed traditionally has not provided significant income for the community besides traditional maintenance will take a long time. Extensification of livestock business with income that can be generated in the short term is very urgent to do immediately. Cricket is a potential livestock business to be developed considering the relatively short production cycle of only 1 month while the fattening program or sheep fattening is also relatively short, which takes about 3 months to harvest. The construction of cricket cages and the expansion of sheep cages of joint business groups owned by the residents of krajan are expected to be able to increase community income both in the short term (1-3 months) or long term (annual). Community service using the active partition method has been successfully carried out with the following work programs; 1) cricket cage production capacity of 250 kg/month, 2) sheep fattening cages from a capacity of 30 heads to 80 heads, 3) training in making silage and ammoniation and complete feed for sheep, 4) improving the genetic quality of sheep by producing cempe and super sheep enlargement . The results of the first period cricket production trials were 31 kg (from 2 boxes) or 31-32 of the target (50 kg/box), the second trial produced 60 kg (of 2 boxes) or 60% of the target and the third trial produced 124 kg (from 4 boxes) or 62% of the target. The benefit gained in each period is Rp. 400,000/box per harvest. While the expansion of the sheep pen has an impact on investor interest in the investment of fattening rams so that the males for fattening, which originally came from only 2 to 30, have increased 15-fold to date. The increase in sheep population will potentially increase the income of Rp. 500,000/breeder/month or Rp. 100,000/head/month. The low yield of crickets from the target is caused by several factors, including seasonal changes and unstable feed sources and production management by farmers who lack discipline in feeding. Whereas in sheep, breeding and fattening systems face obstacles including the provision of alternative feed which cannot be implemented optimally due to the absence of copper or forage counters and fleece cutting machines. If the two tools are fulfilled the optimization of income from the sheep sector will be significantly increased.

Feeding modes shape the acquisition and structure of the initial gut microbiota in newborn lambs.

SummaryEarly gut microbial colonization is important for postnatal metabolic and immune development. However, little is known about the effects of different feeding modes (suckling versus bottle‐feeding) or microbial sources on this process in farm animals. We found that suckled and bottle‐fed newborn lambs had their own distinct gut microbiota. Results from 16S rRNA gene sequencing and qPCR showed that, compared with suckling, bottle feeding significantly increased the abundances of Escherichia/Shigella, Butyricicoccus, and Clostridium XlVa, while significantly decreased the abundance of Clostridium XI. The higher levels of Escherichia/Shigella in bottle‐fed lambs suggest that artificial feeding may increase the number of potential pathogens and delay the establishment of the anaerobic environment and anaerobic microbes. Feeding modes also affected the direct transmission of bacteria from the mother and the environment to newborns. The SourceTracker analysis estimated that the early gut microbes of suckled lambs were mainly derived from the mother's teats (43%) and ambient air (28%); whereas those of bottle‐fed lambs were dominated by bacteria from the mother's vagina (46%), ambient air (31%), and the sheep pen floor (12%). These findings advance our understanding of gut microbiota in early life and may help design techniques to improve gut microbiota and health.

Potential of wild annual legumes for mountain pasture restoration at two silvopastoral sites in southern Spain: promising species and soil-improvement techniques

This study evaluates the potential for pasture improvement and restoration at two silvopastoral sites. We used a total of 16 wild legume species under different management systems (rhizobial inoculation, mycorrhizal inoculation, sheep penning, and sheep penning with mycorrhizal inoculation), at two mountain sites in Sierra Nevada Natural Park (Granada, southern Spain). The first site, Soportujar, had higher soil fertility and rainfall than the second, Lanjaron. Forage yields in Soportujar ranged from 265 to 8970 kg DM ha−1, Vicia amphicarpa, Vicia monantha, Vicia disperma and Lathyrus clymenum being the most productive species. Mycorrhizal inoculation resulted in higher forage yields for Lens nigricans, V. disperma and Vicia lutea. Seed yields were low, ranging from 5.9 to 1234 kg ha−1. Forage yields in Lanjaron were lower, ranging from 46 to 1415 kg DM ha−1; and the most productive species were V. monantha, V. disperma, Lathyrus cicera and Medicago rigidula. Sheep penning alone and together with mycorrhizal treatment resulted in greater forage yields for most of the species studied, although differences were only significant for V. disperma, V. monantha and Lathyrus sphaericus. Seed yields ranged from 0.4 to 60 kg ha−1. In conclusion, we recommend V. monantha, V. disperma and L. cicera followed by V. amphicarpa and L. clymenum (in wetter more fertile sites) and M. rigidula (in drier sites), as they seem to be the best adapted to the pedoclimatic conditions of Sierra Nevada Natural Park. Increasing nutrients in the soil (by sheep penning) and promoting nutrient assimilation (by mycorrhizal inoculation) may be effective strategies for increasing pasture biomass in silvopastoral sites.

Deciphering Neolithic activities from a Cardial burial site (Cova Bonica) on the western Mediterranean coast

Cova Bonica has yielded one of the few assemblages of Cardial Neolithic records of directly dated human remains (c. 5470 and 5220 years cal. BC – unmodelled) in the Iberian Peninsula and has provided the first complete genome of an Iberian farmer. A minimum of seven individuals and six age clusters have been ascribed on the basis of the disarticulated human bones. A large number of archaeological artifacts have likewise been identified in the same layer, preserved in a small number of remnants in different areas of the cave. This study presents the results of a multi-proxy archaeological analysis of the spatial distribution, human remains, small and large mammals, palaeobotanical remains, lithics, ceramics and radiocarbon dating, with the aim of reconstructing the cave's history and the context of the layer containing the human remains. The results suggest the cave was used for at least two distinct purposes: one related to its use for funerary practices, as documented by a small group of artifacts (ornamental objects, ceramics, tools), charcoal and small mammals; the other related to its use as a sheep pen as indicated by reworked fumier, the results of a zooarchaeological study and an ovicaprine palaeodemographic profile. The paper concludes that the funerary and ritualistic practices of the Cardial Neolithic in SW Europe are difficult to reconstruct because human remains are often scattered in archaeological layers where other human activities may also have been conducted. For this reason, artifacts associated with human remains do not constitute a solid foundation on which to reconstruct funerary practices. Indeed, only a multi-proxy analysis of the archaeological material is capable of evaluating different geological and/or archaeological processes and their associated activities.

Role of Sheep Penning in Organic Farming

Sheep penning is one of the traditional methods of enhancing soil fertility. Penning is a fascinating cooperative effort between shepherds and farmers. Penning is an important traditional practice and more than 57% of farmers follow the practice at least once in 2 years. This practice involves camping of cattle, sheep, duck, etc. in the crop fields over night or days of nights after the crop harvest. Although the first mention about the use of animal manure is made by Great Poet ‘Thiruvalluvar’ in his poem Thirukkural in 70BC along with green manuring and sheep penning. The pastoralists perm their flock in the field overnight. The faeces and urine of the flock is deposited on the farmer’s field. This is rich manure and is incorporated into the shallow depth of soil by working blade harrow or cultivator or cultivator.