Phenotype variability and relations between basic parameters of morphological development in young Balkan donkeys

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Balkan donkey is native breed of donkeys evolutively adapted to modest breeding conditions and different climatic systems including harsh and severe climate of Serbian mountains. Unfortunately, the purposes for breeding small donkeys have been lost during the 20th century so the population is regressing. There has been no selective breeding of the autochthonous donkeys in Serbia therefore the data on breed characteristics are recent and few. The monitoring of morphological characteristics of autochthonous Balkan donkey population in Serbia have been performed in aim to characterize the population and to define the importance of autochthonous donkeys as national genetic resource . The morphometric parameters evaluated i.e. height at withers (HWi) body length (BLe), thorax girth (TGi), cannon perimeter (CPe) and body weight (BW) in young Balkan donkeys bred in traditional conditions were used for establishment of the following body indexes: Index of Body Frame (IBF), Index of Body Compactness (BCI), Index of Conformation (CoI) and Dactyl-costal Index (DCI) reflecting body development and conformational relations in Balkan donkey population in Serbia.