Cottonseed diets provide animals with increased levels of protein and energy to support growth. Recently, it was suggested that although the gossypol content of cottonseed could result in adverse animal reproduction, it could have a potential anthelmintic property beneficial to small ruminant operations. In addition, gossypol is primarily cleared and excreted from the animal via liver glucuronidation, which is a primary pathway for steroid clearance in ruminants. The objective of this experiment was to determine the effect of a cottonseed diet and parasite load on the hepatic portal blood flow an indicator of hepatic clearance rates and metabolism. Forty Boer x Spanish cross does were assigned to of 4 treatments (n = 10 per treatment group) in a 2x2 factorial design consisting of cottonseed supplementation and no parasite infection (CNP), cottonseed supplementation plus artificial infection with Haemonchus contortus (CP), commercial pellets with no parasite infection (NCNP), or commercial pellets plus artificial infection with Haemonchus contortus (NCP). On week 8 post-treatment, hepatic portal blood flow measurements were collected via Doppler ultrasonography on the right side of the animal at the 10th intercostal space. Blood flow was then calculated using the following equation: blood flow (mL/min) = mean velocity (cm/s) x vessel area x 60 seconds. The mean velocity was calculated by the following formula: (systolic – diastolic)/pulsatility index. Hepatic portal blood flow and body weight of does were analyzed with a One-way ANOVA using the MIXED procedure of SAS with diet and parasite load as the main effects and their interactions. A diet by parasite interaction (P = 0.026) was observed for the mean velocity of the hepatic portal vein, which was decreased in CP versus CNP treatments. A diet by parasite interaction (P = 0.012) was observed for the diameter of the hepatic portal vein, which was increased in the CP treatment versus all other groups. However, absolute hepatic portal blood flow was not different (P > 0.12) amongst treatments. A tendency for the main effect (P = 0.087) of diet was observed for hepatic portal blood flow relative to body weight, which was an increase in cottonseed (27.8 ±.8 mL/min*kg) versus NCS (23.2 ±.8 mL/min*kg). Body weight was not different (P > 0.35) amongst treatments at the time of Doppler ultrasound examination. In conclusion, cottonseed interacted with parasites to decrease mean velocity and increase the diameter of the portal vein. In addition, cottonseed appears to increase liver blood flow relative to body weight. This change in relative liver blood flow could have implications for mediating hepatic metabolism and clearance.

An online survey was used to collect farmer-level data about farm characteristics, number of animals and species, and farmer socio-demographic information, to evaluate small ruminant production systems in Mississippi (MS) and the Southern USA. Survey data was collected from July 2021 to March 2022 (IRB-21-202), with 243 participants, using the support of MS Sheep and Goat Associations, and MS State University social media. Responses include farmers located in MS (66.3%), TN (9.8%), AL (6.3%), NC (3.4%), KY (2.9%), FL (2%), GA (2%), LA (2%), OK (2%), TX (2%), AR (1%), and VA (0.5%). Respondents were 53.1% females and 46% males with an average age of 45 and 48.9 years, respectively. Ethnic distribution was 96.5% non-Hispanics and 2.5% Hispanics. Race distribution was 90.2% White, 2.9% African American, 2.9% American Indian/Alaska Native, and 0.5% Asian. Educational level was 25.9% Bachelor, 24.4% Associate, 21.5% High School, and 20.5% Postgraduate. Farming experience was 30.7% (0 to 5 yr), 23.4% (6 to 10 yr), 20.5% (11 to 20 yr), 10.2% (21 to30 yr), 9.3% (31 to 40 yr), and 5.9% (> 40 yr). Livestock present among farms was 70% goats, 29.6% beef, 24.7% sheep, 23.4% horses, and 4.1% dairy cattle. They indicated that 44.6% had 26 to 100 animals, 27.2% had 11 to 25, 16.8% had <10 sheep/goats, 5.4% 101-150, 3.5% 151-20, and 2.5% >250. Farm size in the 39% ranged from 21 to 100 ac, 24.9% < 10 ac, 18% from 11 to 20 ac, and 18% >100 ac. These results differ from USDA (2021) by suggesting that sheep and goat producers in the Southern US are predominantly middle-aged individuals, with medium to large size farms, and low number of years of experience in farming. These findings will be used to develop future outreach and educational programs that could help producers increase production efficiency.

Successful Targeted Selective Treatment (TST) against gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) in small ruminant farms require the accurate measurement of phenotypic indicators of the animals. Specific indicators to predict the GIN burden include the age of the animal (A, years), bodyweight (BW, lbs), FAMACHAÓ (score from 1 to 4), body condition score (BCS, score from 1 to 5), and fecal egg count (FEC, eggs per gram of feces or EPG). Objective: Determine the indicator(s) that will more accurately contribute to TST for sheep and goats in the state of Mississippi (MS). Five (05) sheep and five (05) goat herds were used for data collection during fall 2021, the indicators of ewes (n=182) and does (n=197) were individually measured and FEC was determined using a modified McMaster technique. Statistical analysis was performed using Statistix for Windows v. 8.0., and two by two contingency tables were used to evaluate the association between FAMACHA and EPG, and BCS and EPG. The average indicators for sheep and goats sampled were, respectively, for A 2.91 and 2.98 years (P>0.05); BW 137.99 and 89.69 lbs. (P=0.0000); FAMACHA 2.53 and 2.99 (P=0.0000); BCS 3.25 and 2.98 (P=0.0000); FEC 510.05 and 487.56 EPG (P=0.0001). The correlations of FEC and FAMACHA for both species were positive 0.1753 (P=0.0006). Negative correlations were found for FEC and BCS of -0.1517 (P=0.0031) and for FAMACHA and BCS of -0.2945 (P=0.0000). The 2x2 contingency tables showed that goats with FAMACHA 4-5 had 37% chances to have >500 EPG compared to goats with FAMACHA 1-3 (28.2%) (P >0.05). Meanwhile, the BCS 1-2 resulted in 1.01-2.73 times more goats with >500 EPG (45.8% vs. 27.7%; P< 0.05). That effect was more evident for sheep, where 62.6% of animals with BCS 1-2 had >500 EPG vs. 15.8% with BCS 3-5, but the sample size was insufficient to assign statistical significance.

Gossypol is a polyphenolic aldehyde found in cottonseed (Gossypium hirsutum). Cottonseed is a readily available feedstuff commodity in the southeast United States; therefore, it has the potential for usage as an inexpensive source of fat and protein and is promising for animal producers in this region. Gossypol has been studied for its negative effect on the reproduction of males. However, in the present study, we hypothesized a possible anthelmintic effect of cottonseed, a source of gossypol (polyphenolic compound) against Haemonchus contortus. For this purpose, 4-month-old Boer x Spanish cross does (n = 40) were randomly assigned to 4 treatments (n = 10/treatment), based on the supplementation (0.5% body weight-BW in kg), Cottonseed vs. pelleted feed (NC), and no parasite infection (NP) or artificial infection with 4,000 L3 of H. contortus (P). For 8 weeks, FAMACHA, BW, and eggs per gram of feces (EPG) using the McMaster technique were recorded from each animal. The experimental design used was a 2x2 factorial. Normality was tested using Wilk-Shapiro, followed by an ANOVA. Those variables not following normal distribution were analyzed using Kruskal - Wallis nonparametric test. Body weights were analyzed using the MIXED procedure of SAS 9.4. Goats fed with Cottonseed had a similar BW to those fed with pellets, 29.14 and 29.80 kgs, respectively. Furthermore, the Cottonseed fed animals had greater EPG (1074.4 ± 473.4) compared with those eating pelleted feed (672.7 ± 297.07; P< 0.05). Non-artificially infected animals presented minimum EPG (8.1± 8.9 and 3.7 ± 6.05 for NCNP and CNP, respectively) as part of natural infection. FAMACHA for both parasitized groups were similar, 2.77 and 2.84 for NCP and CP, respectively, but greater (P < 0.05) than the FAMACHA of the non-infected animals of 2.29 and 2.41 for NCNP and CNP, respectively. From this study, the presence of cottonseed in the diet of female meat goats did not have a positive effect on reducing the parasite infection, contrary to what was expected.