Castor cake as organic fertilizer to control gastrointestinal nematodes in pasture-raised sheep

• Published in: Revista brasileira de parasitologia veterinaria Vol. 29; no. 4; p. e021420
• Main Authors: Maranguape, Jéssica Sousa, Pompeu, Roberto Cláudio Fernandes Franco, Vieira, Luiz da Silva, Souza, Henrique Antunes de, Oliveira, Eduardo Luiz de, Sousa, Ana Márjory Paiva, Costa, Clésio Dos Santos, Santos, Milena Alves Dos, Pereira, Patrício Leandro, Salles, Hévila Oliveira
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Brazil Colégio Brasileiro de Parasitologia Veterinária 01-01-2020; Colégio Brasileiro de Parasitologia Veterinaria
• Subjects: agroindustrial waste; Animal Husbandry - methods; Animals; continuous stocking; Feces; Fertilizers - parasitology; Haemonchus contortus; Hematocrit; Megathyrsus maximus; Nematoda; Nematode Infections - immunology; Nematode Infections - prevention & control; Nematode Infections - veterinary; Parasite Egg Count - veterinary; PARASITOLOGY; Productive performance; Ricinus communis - chemistry; Sheep; Sheep Diseases - immunology; Sheep Diseases - prevention & control; small ruminants; Soil - parasitology; VETERINARY SCIENCES; Weight Gain; Desempenho produtivo; Haemonchus contortus; small ruminants; Productive performance; continuous stocking; resíduos agroindustriais; lotação contínua; pequenos ruminantes; Megathyrsus maximus; agroindustrial waste
• DOI: 10.1590/S1984-29612020103
• EISSN: 1984-2961
• ISSN: 0103-846X; 1984-2961

Gastrointestinal parasitism is one of the factors that discourages farmers from raising small ruminants in cultivated pastures. To validate a soil treatment strategy to control the free-living stages of gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN), castor cake (CC) was used as a fertilizer on a pasture where sheep grazed on guinea grass under continuous stocking. On day zero, the pasture was divided into three paddocks, contaminated by GIN and treated, respectively, with CC divided into two applications (2CC1/2), CC in a single application (CC1) and organic compost in a single application (control). On day 21, eight GIN-free sheep were placed in each paddock. On day 58, significant differences (P<0.05) were observed: reduction of up to 66.10% in larvae.g-1 of dry mass in pastures fertilized with CC, decrease of up to 60.72% in infection rates among the animals in the groups treated with CC, higher average daily weight gain (over 185 g.day-1) and packed cell volume (over 26%) in the groups treated with CC, when compared to the control (128 g.day-1; 20.9%). In view of the results, the use of CC, mainly CC1, as a fertilizer for guinea grass pastures, under continuous stocking, proved to be promising, with 63.41% effectiveness in controlling worm infestations.