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e-ISSN 1828-1427

  

Rivista trimestrale di Sanità Pubblica Veterinaria edita dall'Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e del Molise ‘G. Caporale’

A quarterly journal devoted to veterinary public health, veterinary science and medicine published by the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Abruzzo e del Molise ‘G. Caporale’ in Teramo, Italy

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2013 - Volume 49 (2), April-June
   
 
Paola Scocco, Francesca Mercati, Andrea Brusaferro,
Piero Ceccarelli, Carlo Belardinelli & Alessandro Malfatti		  
Keratinisation degree of rumen epithelium and body condition score in sheep grazing on Brachypodium rupestre 211-217
doi: 10.12834/VetIt.2013.492.211.217
 
Summary
This article describes the result of a study focusing on the keratinisation degree of rumen mucosa and changes in the body condition of sheep that had grazed for 20 days in a pasture densely covered with Brachypodium rupestre. Grazing in this type of pasture can reduce the probability of fires in a Mediterranean mountain setting. However, foraging in areas with a prevalence of Brachypodium rupestre can affect animals' welfare. In this respect, it is essential to determine the length of time during which the animals can remain in this environment before their welfare is compromised by this type of pasture. Ewes grazing on a semi-mesophilic pasture were included as a control. On days 1, 10, and 20, five ewes from each group were sacrificed to evaluate the variations of the epithelial keratinization degree of the rumen atrium and ventral sac. Body weight (BW) and body condition scores (BCS) were assessed in ten ewes per group. The control animals showed little variation in the keratinisation degree of rumen mucosa without any detrimental effects on the BCS and BW. The experimental animals showed a significant increase in the epithelial keratinisation degree within 10 days and a decrease of BCS and BW within 20 days. The data collected suggest that animals should not remain for longer than 10-12 days on pasture highly covered with Brachypodium rupestre.

Keywords
Body condition score, Brachypodium rupestre, Fire prevention, Rumen keratinisation, Sheep.


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