Does suckling offer protection to the lamb against Teladorsagia circumcincta infection

Abstract This study tested the hypothesis that milk has a direct effect on the establishment of infection with Teladorsagia circumcincta , and provides information on the effects of suckling on resilience to infection in young lambs. Of 46 six-week-old twin-born lambs, one from each twin was allowed to continue suckling (S−) and its twin-weaned (W−) while both were concurrently infected with an average of either 0 (−0; n  = 7/group), 250 (−250; n  = 8/group) or 1000 (−1000; n  = 8/group) third stage infective larvae (L3) of T. circumcincta per day, providing six treatment groups. All groups grazed minimally contaminated pasture, and after 42 days were slaughtered for necropsy. Low pasture larval contamination was confirmed in W0 and S0 lambs by faecal egg counts (FEC) of less than 30 eggs per gram (EPG) and burdens of less than 140 worms. There was no difference in FEC between weaned and suckled lambs. Within infection regime, total worm burdens were 55–60% greater in the weaned compared with their suckled counterparts ( P  = 0.05), and represented 27 and 17%, respectively, net establishment of larvae. The greater worm burdens of both groups of weaned animals, which compared with their suckled counterparts, and of those infected with 1000 compared with 250 larvae per day, were associated with shorter female adults that had fewer eggs in utero , perhaps indicating intra-worm population regulation, but highlighting the limitation of FEC in assessing nematode burdens of such young lambs. There was no effect of infection on live weight gain of either weaned or suckled groups and the possibility was raised that, in such young lambs, immune unresponsiveness may be responsible. The major benefit of continued milk consumption appears to lie more in providing nutrients for enhanced growth rather than in improving resilience of the lambs to infection.