Associations between Gastrointestinal Nematode Infection Burden and Lying Behaviour as Measured by Accelerometers in Periparturient Ewes.

Autor: Williams EG; Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS), Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth SY23 3DA, UK., Davis CN; Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS), Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth SY23 3DA, UK., Williams M; Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS), Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth SY23 3DA, UK., Jones DL; Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS), Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth SY23 3DA, UK., Cutress D; Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS), Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth SY23 3DA, UK., Williams HW; Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS), Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth SY23 3DA, UK., Brophy PM; Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS), Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth SY23 3DA, UK., Rose MT; Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS), Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth SY23 3DA, UK.; Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, University of Tasmania, Sandy Bay, TAS 7005, Australia., Stuart RB; Hybu Cig Cymru, Aberystwyth SY23 3FF, UK., Jones RA; Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS), Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth SY23 3DA, UK.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Animals : an open access journal from MDPI [Animals (Basel)] 2022 Sep 13; Vol. 12 (18). Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Sep 13.
DOI: 10.3390/ani12182393
Abstrakt: The application of precision livestock farming (PLF) technologies will underpin new strategies to support the control of livestock disease. However, PLF technology is underexploited within the sheep industry compared to other livestock sectors, and research is essential to identify opportunities for PLF applications. These opportunities include the control of endemic sheep disease such as parasitic gastroenteritis, caused by gastrointestinal nematode infections, which is estimated to cost the European sheep industry EUR 120 million annually. In this study, tri-axial accelerometers recorded the behaviour of 54 periparturient Welsh Mule ewes to discover if gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) infection burden, as measured by faecal egg count (FEC), was associated with behavioural variation. Linear mixed models identified that increasing FECs in periparturient ewes were significantly associated with a greater number of lying bouts per day and lower bout durations ( p = 0.013 and p = 0.010, respectively). The results demonstrate that FECs of housed periparturient ewes are associated with detectable variations in ewe behaviour, and as such, with further investigation there is potential to develop future targeted selective treatment protocols against GIN in sheep based on behaviour as measured by PLF technologies.
Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Databáze: MEDLINE
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