1Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, Madras Veterinary College, TANUVAS, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
2Instructional Livestock Farm Complex, TANUVAS, Madhavaram Milk Colony, Chennai-51, India
3Registrar, TANUVAS, Madhavaram Milk Colony, Chennai-51, India
4Department of Veterinary Parasitology, Madras Veterinary College, Chennai, TANUVAS, Tamil Nadu, India
5Department of Animal Husbandry Economics, Madras Veterinary College, Chennai, TANUVAS, Tamil Nadu, India
6Instructional Livestock Farm Complex, TANUVAS, Madhavaram Milk Colony, Chennai-51, India
*Corresponding author: T Devi; E-mail: drdevi.t@gmail.com
Online published on 19 July, 2019.
A model rotational grazing pasture for sheep at Instructional Livestock Farm Complex, Madhavaram, Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Science University (TANUVAS), Chennai was established in 2015 to study the performance of sheep grazed in the rotational pasture. An area of 1, 00, 000 sq. ft was divided into 10 paddocks i.e. 9 for rotational grazing and 1 for control. 13 numbers of sheep allowed for grazing for 7 days in each paddock on rotational system. In control paddock, 13 numbers of sheep allowed for grazing continuously for 6 months. 16.89% of more weight gain was observed in sheep grazed in rotational paddock than that of control paddock. Average nematode egg count in dung samples which were collected from sheep grazed in rotational paddock was lesser than that of sheep grazed in control paddock. Rotational grazing of sheep has definitely impact on controlling parasitic load in sheep as well as on pasture by interfering the life cycle of parasite.
Body weight, Paddock, Parasite, Rotational grazing, Sheep
