Reference intervals for organically raised sheep: Effects of breed, location and season on hematological and biochemical parameters

Establishing reference intervals for haematological and biochemical blood variables in Lika pramenka sheep

“…Reference values should encompass 95% of a healthy population (CLSI, 2008) so around 5% of healthy animals could be outside the reference intervals. It is also evident that this percentage is smaller when data is compared to reference intervals presented in the studies made with new, stricter criteria for setting the reference interval, such as in LEPHERD et al (2009), or similar reference populations as in VOJTA et al (2011) and ŠIMPRAGA et al (2013). Although smaller, the percentage of sample animals with values above or below the given reference limits is still more than 5% (Table 3).…”

“…The haematological reference intervals of Lika Pramenka ewes can be compared with those reported by ŠIMPRAGA et al (2013), who determined the reference blood intervals for Dalmatian pramenka -another Croatian indigenous sheep breed .For comparison, the reference intervals are shown in Table 2. They can also be compared with the results of LEPHERD et al (2009) who published reference blood intervals for female merino lambs bred in Australia, using new, more rigorous (sample selection, sample collection techniques, statistical method selection) rules and methods for reference interval determination.…”

“…More differences can be seen if our data is compared with the reference intervals from relevant textbooks (KANEKO et al 2008;PUGH and BAIRD, 2012). (2000) and KANEKO et al (2008); MCV -mean corpuscular volume; MCH -Mean corpuscular haemoglobin; MCHC -Mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration; GGT-gamma -glutamyl transferase; UREA -blood urea nitrogen; AST -aspartate aminotransferase; CREA -creatinine; BIT -total bilirubin; GLU -glucose; ALB -albumin; TP -total protein; CHO -cholesterol Like haematological variables, biochemical blood variables are also influenced by external factors, but the impact is often stronger and more readily detectable (ŠIMPRAGA et al, 2013). That difference is smaller if we compare Croatian indigenous sheep breeds with each other (ANTUNOVIĆ et al, 2004), but greater if we compare them with sheep from other countries (CARCANGIU et al, 2008;BONEV et al, 2012;SOWKAT et al, 2014).…”

“…That difference is smaller if we compare Croatian indigenous sheep breeds with each other (ANTUNOVIĆ et al, 2004), but greater if we compare them with sheep from other countries (CARCANGIU et al, 2008;BONEV et al, 2012;SOWKAT et al, 2014). This is likely because the biochemical markers in the blood of sheep can be much more strongly affected by various local factors, such as husbandry and climate (ŠIMPRAGA et al, 2013). Also, biochemical blood variables are influenced by the age of the animal (ROUBIES et al, 2006;ADDASS, 2011), pregnancy and lactation (CARCANGIU et al, 2007), the number of lambings (ROUBIES et al, 2006;BOUDEBZA et al 2014), as well as the botanical composition of the pasture, and water availability (ANTUNOVIĆ et al, 2010; Blood variables reference intervals in Lika pramenka sheep blood factors of Lika pramenka ewes are indeed different from those observable in relevant textbook literature, as shown in Table 3.…”

“…They are also statistically significant dependent on living conditions, region, husbandry and rearing location, and especially diet (VOJTA et al, 2011;ŠIMPRAGA et al, 2013). This fact is particularly important in organic farming (VOJTA et al, 2011).…”