Correlation Between Body Condition Score and Dag Score with the Level of Gastrointestinal Parasite Infestation in Local Sheep at Bantul Slaughterhouse

¹ Master Program of Veterinary Science , Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
² Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
³ Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
⁴ Research Center for Animal Husbandry , National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), West Java, Indonesia

^* Corresponding author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Abstract

Gastrointestinal parasite infestation has been recognized as a serious threat to sheep and goats worldwide. This study aimed to investigate the health status of sheep designated for slaughter at Local Abattoir in Bantul Regency, focusing on the correlation between physical parameters (BCS and Dag Score) and clinical parameters (Blood and fecal examination). A total of 27 sheep were evaluated for BCS and Dag Score, followed by blood sampling for hematological analysis and fecal samples for parasitological examination of eggs and oocysts. BCS was assessed using a 1-5 scale, while Dag Score uses a 1-5 scale to indicate the level of fecal contamination in the perianal area [1], [2]. Fecal samples were processed using a modified McMaster technique to measure the number of parasite eggs/oocysts. The results showed that 77.78% of the sheep positive for gastrointestinal parasite. Nematode eggs were detected more frequently (70.37%) than coccidian oocysts (33.33%), with strongyle-type eggs redominating. Hematological findings indicated eosinophilia and elevated total protein. However, parasite infestation levels were not significantly associated with BCS or Dag Score (P > 0.05). Our findings show that BCS and Dag Score alone cannot reliably indicate parasite burden in sheep, so routine fecal monitoring is needed.