Procjena tjelesne mase ovaca travničke pramenke na osnovu njihovih tjelesnih mjera na području Bilogore, Hrvatska

Abstract

The aim of present research was to establish the relationship between live body weight and some body measurements in Travnik sheep as a step towards establishing prediction equations to estimate live body weight of sheep under field conditions without using weighing scales. The research was conducted on the family farm "Aščić" from Velika Peratovica in the Bilogora area. The body measures from which the indices of physical development were calculated were taken from 39 sheep. The sheep in the present research had more modest body measurements and body weight than the desirable measures and weights listed in the Sheep Breeding Program in the Republic of Croatia, which is most likely due to the way they were kept, nutrition and their production status. Correlation analysis between individual body measures and sheep weights revealed the strongest and significantly positive correlation (P<0.05) for the width of the chest (0.81). The regression analysis determined the equations for estimating the body weight of the sheep as a dependent variable and determined the coefficients of determination. The highest value of the coefficient of determination of 0.86 was determined when all variables (body measures) were included in the equation. The best prediction equation for predicting the body weight from body measurements is by including the chest width variable alone in the equation Y = -7.303 + 2.955 x C.W. Chest width is the best predictor for the estimation body weight of Travnik sheep and this alone contribute 65% variation in the body weight of adult Travnik sheep.