Brief Description

Sheep are thick coated small ruminants. They feed on wide variety of legumes, roughages cut and carry and pasture. Feeds, water and roughages found in free range areas contain eggs and larvae of parasites which when taken in by the lamb are the main source of parasites and diseases that attacks and stays in its body and then compete for nutrients that has to be absorbed by the animal for growth and reproduction. Animals afflicted with parasites and diseases have an unpleasant outlook, slow growing, poor reproductive performance and even death in serious conditions.

In order to establish control and eradication measures, it is necessary to document and identify its diversity. Hence, this study.

The animals will be grazed in an enclosed pasture located at the west side of the crops research laboratory office in the morning and shall be given Napier grass as soon as they will be confined in a sheep shed in the afternoon or during typhoon and heavy rain.

Feces of the animals will be collected early in the morning and will be subjected immediately for laboratory analysis to determine the presence of parasites.

On the other hand, identification of external parasites will be done by means of ocular inspection. External parasites normally thrive in the skin, ears, mouth, making it easier to locate and identify.

The purposive random sampling technique will be used to identify the animals where the external parasites and fecal samples are collected. Frequency counts and percentages will be used in the analysis of data.

Expected Output

Data to be Gathered:

• External parasites identified. The external parasite will be identified and classified with the aid of magnifying lens and microscope.
• Internal parasite identified. The internal parasites will be identified through fecalysis with the aid of microscope.
• Prevalence of external parasites. This will be computed by dividing the total number of lambs infested over the total number of lambs examined and multiplied by 100.
• Prevalence of internal parasites. This will be computed by dividing the total number of infected over the total number of lambs examined multiplied by 100.