ZOOSANITARY CHARACTERIZATION OF SHEEP AND GOAT FARMING IN HOMOGENOUS MICROREGIONS OF TERESINA, PIAUI, BRAZIL

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to characterize the health practices and describe the characteristics of sheep and goat farming in the homogeneous microregion (HMR) in Teresina, Piaui, Brazil. Forty-five goat and sheep farms were investigated, distributed in 14 cities. The average number of animals per herd was 129 and 121, for the goats and sheep, respectively. The animals used to form the herds originated in the states of Bahia, Pernambuco and Ceará. Animals with undefined breed (45.8%) and Santa Ines breed (35.4%) were the most frequent among the sheep, while for the goats it was undefined breed (55.3%) and Nubian goats (28.6%). The study showed that 42.2% of the 45 farms surveyed raised cattle as well as goats and/or sheep. The extensive rearing system was adopted on 71.1% of the farms. The health practices adopted most often by farmers were the disposing of needles and syringes after use, isolation of sick animals, and cutting and disinfecting the navel. Deworming was a practice used to control worms by 100.0% of producers. Vaccination was a practice adopted in 48.8% of the herds. The clinical changes most often mentioned were caseous lymphadenitis (64.4%), foot rot (62.2%) and diarrhea (60.0%). In conclusion, sheep and goat farming in the Teresina HMR is practiced extensively with reasonably proper installations, but still shows deficiencies in the use of health practices, which impair the prevention and control of diseases, particularly infectious and parasitic diseases.