The adaptability of Garut sheep grazing on oil palm and rubber plantations in tropical conditions of Indonesia

Vet World Vol.17 August-2024 Article - 27

Research Article

Veterinary World, 17(8): 1889-1903

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2024.1889-1903

Bess Tiesnamurti¹, Eko Handiwirawan¹, Santoso Santoso¹, Gresy Eva Tresia¹, Mohammad Ikhsan Shiddieqy^1,2, Achmad Fanindi¹, Alek Ibrahim¹, and Endang Romjali¹

1. Research Center for Animal Husbandry, Research Organization for Agriculture and Food, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Cibinong Science Center, Jl. Raya Jakarta-Bogor KM 46, Cibinong, Bogor-16911, Indonesia.
2. Animal Production Systems Group, Wageningen University & Research, De Elst 1, Wageningen 6708WD, the Netherlands.

Background and Aim: The productivity of sheep in humid tropical plantation areas relies on their ability to adapt. Oil palm plantations serve as potential grazing lands for livestock. This study aimed to identify Garut sheep adaptations in oil palm and rubber plantations of the Garut district, West Java, Indonesia.

Materials and Methods: The total number of sheep used was 103 as the object of this study. Each individual of sheep was used for several different observations, including: Physiological assessment using 24 sheep of various ages, molecular analysis of heat stress using 31 sheep, worm egg count using 59 sheep, and for morphological assessment using 98 sheep. A general linear model was employed to analyze rectal temperature (RT), heart rate (HR), respiratory rate, number of eggs in each gram of sample feces, body weight (BW), body condition score, and morphometric measurements according to age and sex. Forage was compared between oil palm and rubber plantations during the vegetation analysis.

Results: RT, HR, and panting frequency were significantly (p < 0.05) affected by the age and sex of the sheep. The mutation was found in the coding region of the HSP70 gene, which is approximately 232 bp long. Fecal eggs were found in 99% of the fecal samples, consisting of 100% Strongyle eggs and 1.75% Moniezia eggs. BW, body condition score, shoulder height, body length, pelvic height, chest circumference, and number of eggs were significantly affected (p < 0.05) by the age and sex of the sheep. The average fresh matter of vegetation under the plantation was 248.69 ± 120.94 g/m² and 718.15 ± 249.93 g/m² for oil palm and rubber plantations, respectively.

Conclusion: Garut sheep were adapted to oil palm and rubber plantations in the humid tropical region. Plantations are potential sources of sheep grazing and roughage. Further research is needed regarding the consumption of forages in oil palm and rubber plantations.

Keywords: botanical composition, fecal egg counts, Garut sheep, heat shock protein 70, morphometric, physiology response.

How to cite this article: Tiesnamurti B, Handiwirawan E, Santoso S, Tresia GE, Shiddieqy MI, Fanindi A, Ibrahim A, and Romjali E (2024) The adaptability of Garut sheep grazing on oil palm and rubber plantations in tropical conditions of Indonesia, Veterinary World, 17(8): 1889-1903.

Received: 2024-04-03 Accepted: 2024-07-25 Published online: 2024-08-24

Corresponding author: Endang Romjali E-mail: enda066@brin.go.id

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2024.1889-1903

Copyright: Tiesnamurti, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/ publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.