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Are Scottish Blackface ewes more resistant to nematode parasite infection than Greyface ewes?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 November 2017

A Kidane*
Affiliation:
Animal Health, SAC, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, United Kingdom
J G M Houdijk
Affiliation:
Animal Health, SAC, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, United Kingdom
B J Tolkamp
Affiliation:
Animal Health, SAC, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, United Kingdom
S Athanasiadou
Affiliation:
Animal Health, SAC, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, United Kingdom
I Kyriazakis
Affiliation:
Animal Health, SAC, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, United Kingdom University of Thessaly, P.O. Box 199, 43100 Karditsa, Greece
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Extract

The extent of periparturient relaxation of immunity (PPRI) to gastrointestinal nematode parasites is sensitive to metabolisable protein (MP) scarcity but also varies between breeds of sheep (Houdijk, 2008). For example, under ad libitum feeding, Scottish Blackface ewes had a lower extent of PPRI than Greyface ewes (Zaralis et al., 2008). Such between-breed variation in PPRI may not necessarily be associated with genetic resistance per se but could arise from a higher nutrient demand of the more productive Greyface ewes (Houdijk, 2008). This experiment was designed to test the hypothesis that if the extent of PPRI has only a nutritional basis, then the sensitivity of PPRI to MP scarcity will not differ between the breeds when MP feeding is adjusted for between-breed differences in MP demand.

Type
Theatre Presentations
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Science 2009

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References

AFRC, 1993. Energy and protein requirements of ruminants. CAB International, Wallingford, Oxon, England.Google Scholar
Houdijk, J.G.M. 2008. Parasite Immunology. 30, 113–121.Google Scholar
Zaralis, K., Tolkamp, B.J., Houdijk, J.G.M., Alastair, R.G.W. and Kyriazakis, I. 2008. British Journal of Nutrition. In Press.Google Scholar