Effect of Age and Breed on Worm Burden in Indian Caprines

Goat farming is a substantial source of income, especially for people living in rural areas.But the biggest threat to goat production is gastro-intestinal nematodosis.Concerning the issues raised -the location, breed, age, sex, and season of an animal all affect the occurrence and severity of different GIPs.Therefore, the objective of this study was to analyze the effect of age and breed on worm burden in Indian Caprine.A total of 150 animals (50 each of Barbari, Sirohi, and Black Bengal breeds of goat) were grouped according to their age, i.e., 3-6 months (n=12), 6-9 months (n=12), 9-12 months (n=12) and above 12 months (n=14).All animals were screened at the start of the experiment for fecal egg count by McMaster method.Screening was conducted three times at 15-day intervals, after which a statistical analysis was conducted to evaluate the results.Both within and between breeds, the impact of the intestinal nematode resistance trait was determined.On the basis of egg per gram (EPG) (Screened fortnightly), it was observed that age had no significant effect on parasitic load whereas breeds had a significant effect on the parasitic load. HIGHLIGHTSm Gastro-intestinal nematode infections are one of the most important constraints to small ruminant production.m Age had no significant effect on the parasitic load.