A relationship between faecal egg counts and the distance travelled by sheep
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Gregory Falzon; Derek Schneider; David Lamb; Mark Trotter
- Source
- Small Ruminant Research. 111:171-174
- Subject
- Veterinary medicine
Linear relationship
Food Animals
Breeding program
Internal parasites
Genetic selection
Animal Science and Zoology
Biology
Time step
Egg count
- Language
- ISSN
- 0921-4488
The movement distances of merino sheep were monitored over a 24 h period using global positioning system tracking collars and correlated with their faecal egg counts. A linear relationship between the logarithm of faecal egg count and the mean distance moved per time step was found. The results suggest that animal behaviour and productivity outcomes might be influenced even at low faecal egg count levels. The considerable variability of the observations about this linear model suggests that it might be useful for identifying those animals inherently resistant to internal parasites. Such technology could be used as part of a breeding program aimed at improving stock resistance to internal parasites.