Abstract
Data from 2439 goats of the Saanen, Alpine, Anglo Nubian and Toggenburg breeds recorded from 1976 to 2009 by the Association of Goats and Sheep Breeders of Minas Gerais were used in principal component analysis. After consistency of data, six morphological variables (thorax perimeter, body length, withers height, height, width and length of the rump) and 12 variables related to breed standard score and fitness (breed characteristic, head, palette and topline, feet and legs, dairy type, body capacity, udder, rear and front ligament, udder texture, teat and final score) were analyzed. Based on the magnitude of the eigenvalue (lower than 0.7), eleven variables considered redundant were discarded, resulting in reduced costs of technician labor to evaluate the animals. Maintenance of records on height, length, rump width, breed characteristic, dairy type, front ligament and udder texture is recommended.
Highlights
The selection of dairy goats in the past was based primarily in morphological traits, because no records were available for productive traits of the animals
Productive traits started to be recorded only in 2005, through the Official Milk Recording Service in Goats in Brazil conducted by Embrapa Caprinos e Ovinos, in partnership with ACCOMIG/Caprileite (Facó et al, 2011)
The aim of this study was to evaluate several variables recorded in different goat breeds by principal component analysis, and select the most important ones accounting for total variation without loss of information
Summary
Material and MethodsThe selection of dairy goats in the past was based primarily in morphological traits, because no records were available for productive traits of the animals. Six morphological variables (thorax perimeter, body length, withers height, height, width and length of the rump) and 12 variables related to breed standard score and fitness (breed characteristic, head, palette and topline, feet and legs, dairy type, body capacity, udder, rear and front ligament, udder texture, teat and final score) were analyzed.
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