A Study on Body Weights and Bio-Metrical Measurements of Indigenous Goats under Field Conditions

Abstract

The data recorded on body weights and biometrical traits viz., height at withers (HAW), chest girth (CG), paunch girth (PG), hip width (HW), body length (BL), face length (FL), ear length (EL) and tail length (TL) on total of 546 indigenous goats at milk teeth, 2- teeth and 4- teeth of age reared under field conditions were utilized for the present study. The overall least squares mean body weights at milk teeth, 2- teeth and 4- teeth age were 13.12±.22, 23.23±.49 and 32.71±.38 kg, respectively. The overall least square means for HAW, CG, PG, HW, BL, FL, EL and TL were 68.57±.25, 63.10±.36, 64.39±.35, 12.27±.11, 55.93±.28, 16.14±.10, 13.63±.08 and 13.83±.10 cm at milk teeth, 74.63±.34, 70.72±.42, 71.64±.46, 14.40±.12, 60.40±.39, 17.55±.16, 14.53±.10 and 14.88±.16 cm at 2- teeth and 80.02±.29, 79.15±.38, 80.32±.47, 16.11±.13, 66.63±.32, 17.78±.26, 14.90±.15 and 15.38±21cm at 4 teeth of age, respectively. The least squares means for body weights and biometrical measurements were linearly increased with advancement of age. Both sex and age had significant influence on majority of the traits under study.