Relationship of linear body measurements with live body weight in West African Dwarf sheep raised in Tropical Rainforest of Nigeria

Abstract

The relationship between live body weight and some linear body measurements was studied in 130 (98 females and 32 males) West African Dwarf (WAD) sheep under field conditions in Obio Akpa. Body measurements studied included Body Length (BL), Hearth Girth (HG), Height of Wither (HAW), Neck Length (NL), Rump Width(RW), Ear Length (EL), Neck Width (NW), Shoulder Width (SW) and Tail Length(TL). The data collected were subjected to t-test analysis to determine the effect of sex on each of these parameters. The data were also fitted into linear and multiple regression models to predict live body weight from the body measurements. Correlations between body weight and linear body measurements were also calculated. The results indicated that the linear body measurement of the West African Dwarf sheep was significantly higher in males than in females except in shoulder width. In all the three categories studied; male, female and pooled male/female, the correlation coefficient (r) was significantly and positively high in the relationship between live body weight with BL and HG. The correlation coefficient (r) computed were 0.742, 0.842 and 0.579 for body length in pooled male/female, males, and females respectively, while between body weight and HG were 0.704, 0.811 and 0.539 for pooled male/female, males and females respectively. Based on the stepwise regression procedure, BL, HAW, HG, SW, and NL were better for predicting live body weight in linear regression model for males and pooled males/females while BL, SW, HG, TL, HL were best for females. It was concluded that BL and HG were of great importance in the selection program targeting the live body weight of WAD sheep especially, in the study area.