MORPHOMETRIC CHARACTERIZATION OF TWO GOAT BREEDS REARED IN SOUTH EAST OF ALBANIA

Abstract

The study was conducted at the Agricultural Technology Transfer Center (ATTC) Korca in South East area of Albania. Two imported goat breeds, Alpine and Saana not previously characterized were included in the study. Their characterization is of great importance, and the information provided is of great value, especially for the ATTC which use these breeds for the improvement of the local populations by crossbreeding. Morphometric measurements of 50 animals were analyzed. Both breeds have similar values of body measurements. All morphometric traits were positively correlated, where most of them were statistically significant. Body weight has the highest positive correlation with CC (0.763), which is statistically significant. The PCA of all morphometric parameters indicated that the three components accounted 80.1% of the cumulative variance. The PCA and discriminant analysis indicated admixture between breeds. A regression analysis was performed to predict the body weight from morphometric measurements, which indicated that HG and CBC were best fitted to the model with R2 (adj) values 66.87 and 65.29 respectively. The information obtained could be used by the ATTC in a near future for the the management, conservation, and for designing the breeding programes.