Gestion du Parasitisme des petits ruminants en Agriculture Biologique

Summary

The general objective of the project was to evaluate alternative methods of control of nematode parasitism in small ruminants.
More specifically, the project aimed at
1 developing novel methods of diagnosis in order to use more efficiently the available chemical anthelmintics. Novel methods have been developed
either on animals or through analysis of the pasture grazing system
2 assessing the interest in organic farming of mixed grazing between cattle and
sheep for the control of helminth parasitism of the gastrointestinal tract.
The materials and methods used are:
- In vivo parasitological and pathophysiological measurements on two flocks: one of cattle plus sheep in mixed grazing conditions and one of sheep alone.
- Improvement of diagnosis on animals : development of methods of measurement of antibodies against nematode and Oestrus ovis in milk. Comparisons with similar parameters measured on blood.
- Risk analysis of pasture system to approach the level and dynamics of parasite infections and predict when to use efficiently chemical drugs.
*A guide on “Better use of pasture in goat production “ is currently being developed for goat farmers which include our main results on risk analysis through examination of pasture systems