Selective and on-demand drenching of lambs: Impact on parasite populations and performance of lambs

AIM: To determine whether drenching regimes for lambs by which a proportion (10%) of the heaviest animals was selectively left untreated, or animals are only drenched ‘on demand’ when faecal nematode egg counts (FEC) exceeded a threshold level, would result in measurable increases in parasite larval challenge in the autumn and/or decreases in the performance of lambs.

METHODS: A replicated study compared three drenching strategies in which mobs of lambs (n=360 in total) received either: a five-drench preventive programme, administered to all animals (Treatment 1); a five-drench preventive programme, but the 10% heaviest animals left untreated each time (Treatment 2); or drench treatments administered only when FEC exceeded 500 eggs per gram of faeces (epg) (Treatment 3). After the five-drench programme, animals in Treatments 1 and 2 were treated according to FEC as for Treatment 3. A triple-combination drench containing ivermectin, oxfendazole and levamisole, administered orally, was used for all treatments. There were nine farmlets, allowing three replicates of each treatment, in a completely randomised design. Parasite infestations on pasture were measured in autumn by pasture plucks, and worm burdens were monitored in tracer lambs, while the performance of lambs was assessed by liveweight gains, fleece weights, and body condition and dag scores.

RESULTS: Increased numbers of Haemonchus contortus and Trichostrongylus colubriformis larvae on pasture were found in the autumn on farmlets treating selectively or on-demand (Treatments 2 and 3). No differences were detected in other parasite species. Mean liveweight gains did not differ between treatments but some differences were detected between drenched and undrenched lambs in Treatment 2. Mean body condition and mean dag scores of lambs in Treatment 3 tended to be lower and higher, respectively, than those of lambs in Treatment 1; Treatment 2 was generally intermediate.

CONCLUSIONS: Drenching strategies for lambs designed to slow the development of anthelmintic resistance, by increasing the pool of susceptible worms available to dilute resistant survivors after treatment, resulted in increased numbers of H. contortus and T. colubriformis but not other species of parasite on pasture. The increased parasite challenge to lambs in the autumn was associated with small production losses, which may be acceptable to farmers wishing to implement such strategies. It is clear that further work is required on the interaction between management practices and the population dynamics of parasites, especially with regard to creating pools of susceptible genotypes to slow the development of drench resistance.     

赤峰市优质肉牛饲养管理技术规程的应用

优质肉牛产业化在内蒙古赤峰市畜牧业发展中占有重要地位。肉牛业的发展对于调整优化畜牧业结构、增加农牧民收入、振兴国民经济等都有着非常重要的现实意义。《赤峰市优质肉牛饲养管理技术规程》是指导农牧民进行肉牛养殖的科学性、规范性、可操作性的技术规程,该规程有利于肉牛业可持续、健康、稳定发展,可以更好地推广应用肉牛饲养管理、繁殖改良、饲料调制、育肥等技术,可加快肉牛产业化、规模化、集约化、现代化发展的进程。     

Indicators of success for smart law enforcement in protected areas: A case study for Russian Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) reserves

Although considerable conservation resources have been committed to develop and use law enforcement monitoring and management tools such as SMART, measures of success are ill‐defined and, to date, few reports detail results post‐implementation. Here, we present 4 case studies from protected areas with Amur tigers (Panthera tigris altaica) in Russia, in which indicators of success were defined and evaluated at each. The ultimate goal was an increase in tiger numbers to 1 individual/100 km² at each site. We predicted that improvements in law enforcement effectiveness would be followed by increases in prey numbers and, subsequently, tiger numbers. We used short‐term and long‐term indicators of success, including: (i) patrol team effort and effectiveness; (ii) catch per unit effort indicators (to measure reductions in threats); and (iii) changes in target species numbers. In addition to implementing a monitoring system, we focused on improving law enforcement management using an adaptive management process. Over 4 years, we noted clear increases in patrol effort and a partial reduction in threats. Although we did not detect clear trends in ungulate numbers, tiger populations remained stable or increased, suggesting that poaching of tigers may be more limiting than prey depletion. Increased effectiveness is needed before a clear reduction in threats can be noted, and more time is needed before detecting responses in target populations. Nonetheless, delineation of concrete goals and indicators of success provide a means of evaluating progress and weaknesses. Such monitoring should be a central component of law enforcement strategies for protected areas.     

岷县草产业发展现状及策略

岷县地处秦岭、黄土高原和青藏高原的交汇带。本研究通过分析其草产业现状,指出岷县草产业发展主要存在天然草地退化严重、栽培草地管理粗放和特色草产业加工技术不完善的问题,提出岷县草产业今后发展的方向是分区管理和分类经营,从建立草地生态补偿基金、发展草地观光旅游业、提高栽培草地生产力、提高草地资源的利用效率和培训农民能手等方面提出了岷县草产业的发展策略。     

舍饲和放牧BMY牛血液生化指标比较

[目的]为了解不同饲养管理条件下,BMY牛血液生化指标的变化情况,以到达补充BMY牛的基础性资料,为BMY牛的人工饲养、疫病防治提供理论依据的目的。[方法]采用试剂盒对20头不同饲养管理条件下的BMY年母牛的血液生化指标进行了检测。[结果]显示:舍饲牛的STB、A/G、LDL、GLU、Crea和P等指标显著高于放牧组,放牧牛的GLO、ALT、AST/ALT、GGT和TG等指标显著高于舍饲牛(P<0.05),TP、HGB、ALP、BUN、URIC、T-CHOL、Ca、HDL在两组间差异不显著(P>0.05),舍饲牛的血液生化指标的变异系数要明显小于放牧牛。[结论]舍饲BMY牛的血液生化指标明显要优于全放牧条件下的BMY牛。     

成都市府南河工程草坪建植与管理的研究

成都市府南河改造工程是以环保绿化为中心的全面市政改造工程,绿地以草坪为主。根据成都的自然条件和对草坪的质量要求,选择改良的高羊茅（ＦｅｓｔｕｃａａｒｕｎｄｉｎａｃｅａＳｃｈｒｅｂ．）为建群种,草地早熟禾（ＰｏａｐｒａｔｅｎｓｉｓＬ．）为伴生种,混播建植。注重修剪、除杂、防病虫、施肥等日常管理,并提出了加强管理的几点建议。     

农村高效、生态型奶牛养殖基地建设的实践与探索

"杨凌农村高效、生态型奶牛小区示范基地建设"项目实施成功的案例的表明:目前在我国农村推广"公司 科技专家 养殖小区(基地) 农户"的模式,解开了销售难、资金少、技术低三个一直困扰奶牛发展的死结,为农村产业结构调整,农民增收探索一条新路。     

阿拉善荒漠草地生态危机及其治理对策

综述了阿拉善地区生态危机的现状 ,并根据多年来生态治理的经验和成果 ,提出了以改善生态环境为目标、草原建设为重点、综合开发为手段 ,坚持环境治理与农牧业生产并重的治理原则与方法