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Hematological and biochemical reference intervals for weaned Dalmatinska pramenka lambs - preliminary report

Background and purpose: Systematic monitoring of the animals’ health helps to detect problems before they develop in earnest and incur economical losses. Hematological and biochemical analyses are accepted methods for such monitoring. In order to apply them to Dalmatinska pramenka sheep organically bred in Croatia, physiological values of key hematological and biochemical parameters for lambs have been determined in this study, because some parameters are breed-specific and influenced by the animals’ living conditions. Values for Croatian indigenous breeds in their native environment have not been determined previously. Materials and methods: We took blood samples from 40 Dalmatinska pramenka lambs in June. Animals were fed by free grazing and additionally with hay and grain in the winter, kept on a farm in southern Croatia, Dalmatinska zagora area. Hematological measurements were done automatically, and biochemical parameters were determined by standard laboratory tests. Reference ranges were calculated as the central 95% of measurements for each parameter. Results: We found differences in concentrations of certain biochemical analytes when compared with other studies on sheep and lambs. Some of the parameters had higher mean concentrations than found in available literature, such as glucose and γ – glutamyltransferase ; and some lower, such as creatinine. Hematological values mostly gave similar values to those found in general literature or previously reported in other studies, except for the high values of white blood count (WBC) in apparently healthy animals. This could be due to the changes in blood occurring prior to counting due to the limitations of automatic analyzer used. Values for erythrocyte indices (MCH, MCV, MCHC) and platelets were too far from the normal distribution to be successfully transformed, and therefore were left out. Conclusion: The results demonstrate specificity of Dalmatinska pramenka sheep and provide a basis for referent physiological values. A larger sample, also containing different age categories must be obtained in the future, in order for the distribution of results to be relevant. These results can be used for health monitoring in flock health management for Dalmatinska pramenka lambs.

blood; reference intervals; lambs; Dalmatinska pramenka

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