Prevalence of gastrointestinal nematodes in Gaddi sheep of Palam valley, Himachal Pradesh

The prevalence of gastrointestinal nematodes in Gaddi sheep was studied on the basis of examination of gastrointestinal tract and results were correlated with meteorological data of different season of the year. The overall prevalence of gastrointestinal nematodes in Gaddi sheep was recorded to be 86.10%. Maximum number of intestines were found positive for gastrointestinal nematodes during rainy season (91.66%) followed by summer (87.50%) and lowest in the winter season (79.16%). Counting of intestinal nematodes revealed that H. contortus was the predominant species which represented an average 37% of population of all nematodes followed by Ostertagia circumcinata (24.58%), Trichuris ovis (22.95%), Oesophagostomum columbianum (10.53%), Trichostrongylus colubriformis (2.22%), Bunostomum trigonocephalum (2.26%) and Strongyloides papillosus (0.43%).