A preliminary study on the responses to experimental Haemonchus contortus infection in indigenous goat genotypes

A preliminary study on the responses of different goat genotypes to experimental haemonchosis was assessed in 48 castrated 6-months old Boer, Xhosa-Boer, Nguni and Xhosa goats randomly assigned to four balanced groups: non-infected and non-supplemented (NINS); infected, non-supplemented (INS); infected, supplemented (IS) and non-infected, supplemented (NIS). Each goat in the infected groups received a dose of 7200 L3 H. contortus larvae and kept for 90 days. Of the infected groups, the IS Xhosa goats had the lowest faecal larval counts (FLC) and maintained the highest PCV values throughout the study. The INS Xhosa and Nguni goats maintained body weight, but INS Boer goats lost body weight markedly. In all the treatments, the Xhosa goats also maintained high PCV values throughout the study. In conclusion, the Xhosa and Nguni genotypes performed better in terms of tolerance to haemonchosis. With protein supplementation, the Xhosa and Nguni genotypes also appeared to be much more capable of increasing PCV and eosinophil counts as worm counts increased, unlike the Boer and Xhosa-Boer genotypes.