Objective

To evaluate the phenotypic segregation against gastrointestinal nematodes from the fecal egg count in dairy goats of the Martí municipality, in Matanzas province, Cuba.

Materials and Methods

The study was conducted in a dairy goat flock in the Marti municipality, of Matanzas province, Cuba, from May to December, 2017. Individual fecal samples were taken for determining the fecal egg count and the body condition of 52 does was monthly recorded. Quartiles (Q) were established, according to the fecal egg count per month. The animals that in 60 % of the samplings were in Q4, were classified as high eliminators; the animals that in 60 % were in Q1 and 40 % in the intermediate quartiles were low eliminators, but with fecal egg count which was never higher than 1,500 eggs per gram; the category of intermediate eliminators corresponded to the animals that were found in the interquartiles Q2 and Q3.

Results

The goats were segregated in three groups: four classified as low eliminators, 42 as intermediate, and six as high, with egg averages in the fecal counts of 485,9; 1 498,2 and 1 895,8 for each group, respectively. The mode of the body condition in each group did not show differences (3).

Conclusions

The segregation of goats through fecal egg count allowed the identification of the existing phenotypic variability among the animals in the susceptibility to gastrointestinal parasitism. Thus, the bases are created for the evaluation, in the future, of a breeding program through selection, for gastrointestinal parasitism-resistant animals.

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