Dr. Leyla Rios de Alvarez, Assistant Professor, Mississippi State University Extension
(Previously published online with Mississippi State University Extension: POD-02-25)
(Image Source: University of Calgary)
One of the main drawbacks in small ruminant production systems worldwide is gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN), or worms. The lack of options for controlling worms is mainly a result of increasing resistance these parasites have developed in the last decades. This has caused economic losses to farmers with grazing production systems.
Since 2001, GIN infection was the most prevalent disease, reported by 74 percent of the U.S. farmers surveyed in a National Animal Health Monitoring System study. According to the 2021 Census of Agriculture, U.S. producers have 5,170,000 sheep and 2,582,000 goats. In the last decades, these numbers have decreased annually. Studies are needed to determine if parasite resistance to commercial de-wormers is a factor in this decrease.
Gastrointestinal Worm Life Cycle
Most GINs that affect sheep and goats have a direct life cycle, meaning they Continue reading…