Live Body Measurements Research Articles

BIOLOGICAL FEATURES OF FORMATION OF EXTERIOR AND PRODUCTIVITY OF ADAY HORSES IN THE CONDITIONS OF THE MANGYSHLAK PENINSULA

It is established that milk mares of the Kazakh horse of the Aday breed have on average live weight of 389.2 kg, height at the withers of 139.2 cm, an oblique body length of 142.1 cm, a chest girth of 167.6 cm and a metacarpus girth of 17.5 cm. Mares of the Kazakh breed of the Mangystau population surpass in the live weight and body measurements the peers of Aday offspring. Namely, the live weight was 415.3 kg, the height at withers – 140.9 cm, the oblique body length – 143.4 cm, the chest girth – 170.5 cm and the metacarpus girth - 18.3 cm. In general, mares of the Kazakh horse of the Aday offspring are inferior to the minimum requirements for animals of the elite class in height at withers, the chest and metacarpus girths. At the same time, 90% of mares correspond to the 1 quality class. In stallions – producers of the Kazakh horses of the Aday offspring, the live weight averaged 438.7 kg, and in stud horses the Mangystau population – 449,8 kg. Body measurements in Aday horses were 145.2-147.5-169.8-18.5 cm, in the Mangystau population – 145.6-148.1-172.2-18.5 cm, respectively. Some regularities of growth and development of foals from birth to 30 months of age are established. A scale for the development of young Aday horses has been developed.

Effect of varying dietary energy to protein ratio in creep feed on feed intake, growth performance and nutrient digestibility of pre-weaning Boer goats.

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary energy-to-protein ratios in the creep feed on feed intake, growth performance and nutrient digestibility of Boer kids before weaning. Twenty-four Boer kids, one months of age which were randomly divided into four treatment groups, with each group consisting of three males and three females. The animals were fed formulated creep feeds with varying metabolizable energy (ME) (MJ/kg DM) and crude protein (CP) contents as follows: 10 MJ ME/kg to 17% CP (Group 1, control), 10 MJ ME/kg to 18% CP (Group 2), 10 MJ ME/kg to 18% CP (Group 3) and 12 MJ ME/kg to 22% CP (Group 4). Throughout 67 days of the trial period, feed intake was found to be more in Group 3 (P < 0.05) compared to other groups. Dry matter intake (DMI) reduced in Group 4 when energy-to-protein ratio was increased. No significant difference (P > 0.05) were observed in live weight gain (LWG), body measurements and body condition score (BCS) between treatments. LWG for Groups 2 and 3 were found to be higher than the other groups. The feed conversion ratio (FCR) for Groups 1, 2, 3 and 4 were 2.21: 1, 2.50: 1, 3.57: 1 and 4.65: 1, respectively. Significant difference (P < 0.05) was only observed in digestibility of crude protein where Group 4 had the highest percentage of CP digestibility, however, was not translated into better BW gain in the animals of this group. The results from this study suggested that dietary formulation that contained 10 MJ ME/kg to 17% CP was sufficient to Boer goat kids at the pre-weaning stage based on LWG, body measurement, BCS and FCR.

A New Method to Identify Types of Body Constitution in Animals

A new method to identify the conformational and constitutional types based on the body specific mass-ratio index (BSMRI) with the use of four live-body measurements and a liveweight in animals has been developed. The cows were assigned to three conformational and constitutional body types by specifying the BSMRI values: flabby (1.36 and less), intermediate (1.37–1.54), and compact (1.55 and more). The objective of the survey is to allocate the Red Steppe cows of the Kubansky intrabreed type to the types of constitution, immunological status, milk production, and reproductive capacity. It is ascertained that the compact type of body condition is typical for the largest portion of cows, comprising 46.2%, which is 11.6 and 27.0% more than that in the specimens ascertained to the intermediate and flabby body condition types, respectively. The milk yields of the cows of a flabby type were, on average, 254–335 kg (P > 0.95) higher than the average milk yield of 5496 kg for the experimental livestock. In addition, the cows assigned to the flabby type produced milk with higher fat- and protein yields and milkability greater by 0.11% (P > 0.99) and 0.09% (P > 0.999) than that in the cows of the compact and intermediate types, respectively. Better welfare was determined in the compact-type cows, which were characterized by a higher production use, when compared to the cows of the other types. Moreover, the cows of a flabby type were inferior to the compact-type animals in the milk yields by 2109 kg on average.

The influence of genotypic factors on the forming of the economic use of values of ukrainian bleck and wheat milk breeds

The evaluation of dairy cows` exterior plays a key role in the system of breeding because well-defined breed typology and high exterior evaluation cause high production efficiency. The objective of the study was to evaluate the exterior of the cows in Ukrainian Black and White dairy breed, to analyze the effectiveness of the selection of first-calf cows according to the body measurements and to study the influence of genotype factors on the formation of the exterior. For research purpose animal groups were formed on the principle of analogues, taking into account the part of Holstein inheritance, parentage, linear belonging, and age. Depending on the part of Holstein inheritance researched livestock was divided into three groups: 75,0-87,4 %, 87,5-99,9 % and 100 %. As a result of our own research it has been established that simultaneously with an increasing of the part of Holstein inheritance the body measurements increase too. It indicates about the improving effect of the Holstein breed on the formation of the exterior in the Ukrainian black-and-white milk breed. The first-calf cows with part of Holstein inheritance 100 % have advantages over the cows with the same age with part of Holstein inheritance 75,0-87,4 % with the withers height – 4 cm (P < 0,001), sacrum height – 4 cm (P <0.001), depth of chest – 1 cm, width of chest – 1 cm, width of hips – 1 cm, length of thoracic – 3 cm, chest girth – 2 cm, width of pins – 1 cm (P <0,001); the advantage over the first-calf cows with part of Holstein inheritance 87,5-99,9 % was 3 cm in withers height, 2 cm in sacrum height and 1 cm in all other cases. An increasing of the part of Holstein inheritance is accompanied by an increasing of milk yield, milk fat and milk protein. The higher milk yield had cows with the part of Holstein inheritance 100 % – by 294 kg compared to cows of the same age with the part of Holstein inheritance 87,5-99,9 % and by 2017 kg (P < 0,001) compared to cows of the same age with the part of Holstein inheritance 75,0-87,4 %. Fat content in milk of cows with the part of Holstein inheritance 100 % was lower by 0,02 % compared to cows with the part of Holstein inheritance 87,5-99,9 % and 0,21 % (P < 0,001) compared to cows with the part of Holstein inheritance 75,0-87,4 %, it was expected – the higher milk yield, the lower fat content in milk. The effectiveness of the simultaneous complex selection of dairy cattle on several grounds depends on the existence of correlation between them. The correlation between the body measurements of cows and 305-milk yield is positive, but varied in strength. The average strength of the correlation is observed between the milk yield and withers height (r = +0,233, P < 0,001), milk yield and length of thoracic (r = +0,332, P < 0,01), in other cases, the strength of the correlation is weak, but with sacrum height (P < 0,01), chest girt (P < 0,01) and depth of chest (P < 0,05) is significant. One-factor dispersion analysis was carried out to determine the level of determinism of live weight and body measurements by genotype factors. According to the results it was established that the influence of the bull's origin on the live weight of their first-calf daughters was 72,8 %, on the body measurements – 31,5- 91,3 %, the influence of line belonging amounted 81,0 % and 36,1-69,4 %, the influence of the part of Holstein inheritance was 26,3 % and 15,9-39,5 %, respectively. All genotypic factors have a significant effect on the live weight of the first-calf cows (P < 0,05 ... 0,001), withers height (P < 0,05...0,01), width of chest (P < 0,01...0,001) and width of pins (P < 0,05...0,001). Thus, the greatest influence on the body measurements and live weight of first-calf cows has the bull's origin, just below – the line belonging, the lowest – the part of Holstein inheritance, but in all cases it is rather high. It was established that for improvement of the cows` exterior will be promote the using of bulls and lines that have the desirable indicators of live weight and body measurements of daughters, as well as animals with a high part of Holstein inheritance, which have by good exterior characteristics. For effective selection it is needed to use of detected correlations between milk yield and body measurements. Key words: exterior, body measurements, part of Holstein inheritance, bull's origin, milk productivity.

THE LIVE WEIGHT AND BODY MEASUREMENTS OF THE RABBIT CROSS «HYLA» IN VARIOUS PERIODS

THE LIVE WEIGHT AND BODY MEASUREMENTS OF THE RABBIT CROSS «HYLA» IN VARIOUS PERIODS

In vivo prediction of the carcass fatness using live body measurements in Pekin ducks

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the correlation between live body measurements and several fat traits in Pekin ducks, and ultimately to formulate multiple regression equations for the in vivo estimation of the carcass fatness of Pekin ducks. Several traits were measured in a total of 208 Pekin ducks aged 6 wk (107 males and 101 females). All ducks were weighed and measured for a set of body measurements including live body weight, body slope length, breast muscle thickness, skin fat thickness, chest width, keel length, and neck length. The breast muscle thickness and skin fat thickness was measured using B-scan sonography. Carcass information, including eviscerated weight, subcutaneous fat with skin weight, and abdominal fat weight, was collected after slaughter. Our results revealed that sex effects on most traits were significant (P < 0.05), and that the weight of subcutaneous fat with skin was significantly correlated with live body weight (r = 0.57 to 0.71, P < 0.01). Four additional traits of males were closely correlated with the weight of subcutaneous fat with skin, namely breast muscle thickness (r = 0.20, P < 0.01), skin fat thickness (r = 0.43, P < 0.01), chest width (r = 0.24, P < 0.01), and neck length (r = 0.20, P < 0.05). The abdominal fat weight, percentage of fat, and percentage of subcutaneous fat with skin of ducks were significantly correlated with live body weight (r = 0.38 to 0.43, P < 0.01), and skin fat thickness (r = 0.38 to 0.49, P < 0.01). These traits provided the basis for constructing regression equations to predict weight (or percentage) of subcutaneous fat and abdominal fat with high values of coefficients of multiple correlation (R) between the dependent variable and the independent variables. Two equations were verified to be applicable in other duck groups, with high accuracy, as more than 80% of estimated values were within the margin of error (<10%), compared with the actual values.

Feed efficiency measures and their relationships with production and meat quality traits in slower growing broilers

Feed consumption accounts for the major cost of broiler production. Improving the efficiency of feed utilization is a primary goal in breeding strategies, although few studies have focused on slower growing broilers. Here, we recorded the feed intake (FI) during the fast-growing period (d 56 to 76) and measured the live weight, body measurements, carcass characteristics, and intramuscular fat (IMF) content of Chinese yellow broilers. Then, the residual feed intake (RFI) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were calculated for each individual. Pair-wise phenotypic correlations were subsequently calculated between feed efficiency traits and others. Finally, we separately selected the more efficient individuals based on RFI and FCR values to evaluate the impacts on the traits of FI, growth, carcass characteristics, and meat quality. The results showed higher correlations between FCR and production traits than with RFI, while RFI showed a moderate and positive phenotypic correlation with abdominal fat. FCR was weakly correlated with FI and slightly positively correlated with IMF content. The correlation coefficient between RFI and FI was 0.62, and that between RFI and IMF content was close to zero. Without increasing FI, decreasing FCR could effectively enhance the growth rate and market weight with no adverse effect on meat quality. In contrast, by improving RFI, FI and abdominal fat mass were significantly reduced and thus increased the yield with no unfavorable effects on meat quality. In consideration of consumer preference and overall economical benefits, RFI is a more suitable index to improve feed efficiency in slower growing broilers.

Live weight and body measurements of male and female native ducks raised in different raising systems

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to determine live weight and body measurements of male and female native ducks raised in different raising systems. One hundred and twenty native ducks (60 males, 60 females) were used in the study. The ducks were raised in deep litter floor and cage systems. Live weight and body values were measured every two weeks, until they were 56 days old. Three-parameter logistic regression and Gompertz model were used to determine growth model of [...]

Effect of Supplementing Rice Bran and Wheat Bran with Probiotics on Growth Performance of Khari Kids

An experiment was conducted in IAAS, Livestock Farm, Rampur Chitwan, Nepal in order to assess the growth performance of kids feeding diets supplemented with probiotics. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four replications and five feeding supplemented diets with probiotics treatments. Parameters studied were live weight gain, body measurements and economic analysis. The result of this study showed the highest cumulative mean live weight (13.24 kg) in the treatment group feeding mixture of rice bran and wheat bran with probiotics. Fortnightly and daily body weight gains were also highest in the treatment group having mixture of rice bran and wheat bran with probiotics. The highest (11.74cm) overall mean monthly heart girth was observed in the treatment group feeding mixture of rice bran and wheat bran with probiotics. The mean monthly cumulative neck girth, body length and wither height of kids did not differ significant (p&gt;0.05) among treatments. However, the highest overall mean monthly cumulative neck girth (6.71cm), wither height (10.14cm) and body length (14.62cm) was observed in probiotics supplemented treatment groups. Highest (1.61) benefit cost ratio was obtained from goats reared on feeding mixture of rice bran and wheat bran with Probiotics and lowest (1.008) in wheat bran without probiotics. The result of the study thus suggests that feeding of rice bran and wheat bran with probiotics is beneficial in terms of growth rate and cost of production.Int. J. Appl. Sci. Biotechnol. Vol 5(4): 430-433

Morphometric evaluation of Arbor Acre parent stock broilers reared in south-south Nigeria

Economic importance of morphometric parameters such as live weight and body measurements per weeks are quantitative as well as complex with continuous variability in chicken hence this present studies. A total of 140 unsexed day old parent stock broiler chicks (Arbor Acre strain) were used for this present study. They were completely randomized and divided into four treatment groups of 35 birds per group. Each group had five replicates of 7 birds per replicates. The parameters measured were body weight (BW), BODY length (BL), Wing span (WS), Wing length (WL), Breast girth (BG) and Shank length (SL). Correlation matrix between body weight and the linear body measurements were positive and highly significant (r = 0.510 – 0.765, P &lt; 0.01). The linear regression model with a coefficient of determination (R2) value of 60.30 included forecast indices such as BL, WS, WL, TL, BG and SL. The regression could be used to predict the body weight of the birds and also for selection purposes.Keywords: Morphometrics, Evaluation, Arbor Acre, Parent stock Broilers

Genetic correlation between live body measurements and beef cutability traits in Hanwoo steers

ObjectiveThe growth, carcass and retail cut yield records on 1,428 Hanwoo steers obtained through progeny testing were analyzed in this study, and their heritability and genetic relationships among the traits were estimated using animal models.MethodsTwo different models were compared in this study. Each model was fitted for different fixed class effects, date of slaughter for carcass traits and batch of progeny test live measurement traits, and a choice of covariates (carcass weight in Model 1 or backfat thickness in Model 2) for carcass traits.ResultsThe differences in body composition among individuals were deemed being unaffected by their age at slaughter, except for carcass weight and backfat thickness. Heritability estimates of body size measurements were 0.21 to 0.36. Heritability estimates of retail cut percentage were high (0.56 from Model 1 and 0.47 from Model 2). And the heritability estimates for loin muscle percentage were 0.36 from Model 1 and 0.42 from Model 2, which were high enough to consider direct selection on carcass cutability traits as effective. The genetic correlations between body size measurements and retail cut ratio (RCR) were close to zero. But, some negative genetic correlations were found with chest girths measured at yearling (Model 1) or at 24 months of age or with chest widths. Loin muscle ratio (LMR) was genetically negatively correlated with body weights or body size measurements, in general in Model 1. These relationships were low close to zero but positive in Model 2. Phenotypic correlation between cutability traits (RCR, LMR) and live body size measurements were moderate and negative in Model 1 while those in Model 2 were all close to zero.ConclusionTherefore, the body weights or linear body measurements at an earlier age may not be the most desirable selection traits for exploitation of correlated responses to improve loin muscle or lean meat yield.

An Examination of the Relationships Between Live Weight and Body Measurements in Karacabey Merino Sheep Through the Path Analysis Approach

An Examination of the Relationships Between Live Weight and Body Measurements in Karacabey Merino Sheep Through the Path Analysis Approach

Analysis of the body structure of Djallonke sheep using a multideterminant approach

This study aimed at using a multivariate approach to describe the body structure of Djallonke sheep in northern Ghana and to determine which approach explains better the variation in body composition. Live weight (LW) and linear body measurements including heart girth (HG), neck girth (NG), chest depth (CD), height at withers (HW), rump height (RH), body length (BL) and pin-bone width (PBW) were obtained from 172 sheep aged between two and three years. The fixed effects of sex and age were tested using the general linear model (GLM) while the Nearest Neighbor method of Hierarchical Cluster Analysis was used to group body traits into clusters. Principal Component Factor Analysis was used to describe the variation in body traits where extracted factors were varimax rotated to enhance interpretability. The analysis of variance revealed significant (P 0.05). Age had no significant influence (P > 0.05) on the body traits. The sheep weighed 26.92 ± 0.89 kg averagely and had averages of other body measurements to be: 71.74 ± 1.23, 40.52 ± 0.79, 27.73 ± 0.52, 60.72 ± 0.86, 59.61 ± 0.87, 58.87 ± 1.06 and 12.81 ± 0.23 cm for HG, NG, CD, HW, RH, BL and PBW, respectively. The product moments of correlation were positive and significant (P < 0.05, 0.01; r = 0.18–0.99) for all pairs of traits. The body traits were categorized mainly into two clusters with the first cluster comprising the HG, HW, RH and BL while NG, CD and PBW formed the second cluster. The grouping of the traits was slightly different in Factor analysis where two underlying principal components (PC) were extracted to discern the variance structure of the Djallonke sheep. The first principal component which consisted of CD, HW, RH, BL and PBW explained 61.26 percent and the second, 12.92 percent thereby giving a maximum of 74.17 percent generalized variance in body measurements. The traits loaded on the first principal component are closely associated with bone growth hence describing the general body size conformation while the traits (HG and NG) on the second component seem to describe only the thoracic region. It can be concluded that both the Hierarchical Cluster analysis and the Factor analysis grouped body traits similarly but the later is to be recommended because of the additional ability of indicating the amount of variation explained by the developed factors.

SELCTION INDEX FOR SOME BODY MESUREMENTS TOWARDS IMPROVING MILK PRODUCTION IN DHOFARI GOAT

ABSTRACTThe present study investigate the possibilities of improving milk production in Dhofari goat raisedat Salalah of Sultanate of Oman through selection index containing body weight and dimensions atbirth. Records of 190 Dhofari does, daughters of 35 sires were available for this study. During twosuccessive years, data were collected on the same animal at birth (birth weight, BW; body length, BL;body height at withers, BH; heart girth, HG and rear girth, RG) and after the first lactation season(total milk yield, TMY). The present study estimated genetic and phenotypic parameters for thestudied traits and constructed 19 selection indices to predict TMY in Dhofari goat.The present study estimated averages of BW, BL, BH, HG, RG and TMY as 2.9 kg, 31.4 cm, 34.7cm, 33.6 cm, 37.0 cm and 50.0 kg, respectively. Among body dimensions, HG and RG were morevariable than BL and BH. Heritability estimates for all studied traits were little and ranged from 0.002to 0.1. The correlation coefficients among all studied traits were genetically high and phenotypicallylow. Genetic correlations between TMY and all live body measurements were close to one and muchhigher than the corresponding phenotypic ones. Genetically and phenotypically, TMY had positivecorrelations with BW, BL and BH and negative ones with HG and RG. The maximum accuracy of thefull index was 0.45. The greatest improvement in TMY was +0.25 kg. Selection on all indices reducedHG and RG. Selection on I13 while reducing HG (-0.31 cm) and RG (-0.42 cm), it increases the size ofanimal probably through BL (+0.11cm) and BH (+0.18 cm). The present study concluded that thesimplified selection index (I13) utilizing individual kid performance (HG and RG at birth) is the mostefficient (rTI =0.38), attain adequate improvement in TMY (+0.21 kg), less expensive and being about13% more efficient in the improvement than direct selection for milk yield alone compared with theother studied indices. Thus, I13 can be used as a selection criterion for the simultaneous improvementof milk and meat production in Dhofari goat.

Kulonbozo

Live weight and 21 body measurements of 110 Thoroughbred, 75 Gidran, 109 Nonius, 97 Hungarian Sport Horse, 172 Hungarian Cold Blooded Horse and 20 Murinsulaner type adult brood mares in 28 studs were evaluated in Hungary. One way ANOVA was used to compare the genotypes. Some body measure indices were determined. Phenotypic correlation coefficients between the live weight and body measurements were estimated. Regression equations were developed to estimate the live weight from body measurements. Significant differences were found between the live weight and 21 body measurements of different genotypes. The rank of the investigated genotypes according to live weight was as follows: Hungarian Cold Blooded Horse (742.1 kg), Murinsulaner type (649.3 kg), Nonius (614.9 kg), Hungarian Sport Horse (600.9 kg), Gidran (563.4 kg) and Thoroughbred (542.0 kg). The results of girth measurements for the warm blooded breeds were similar to the data found in the literature. Considerable difference was found between the genotypes in body measure indices. The absolute and relative body size values prove clearly and objectively, that there are significant differences in the conformation of Thoroughbred, Gidran, Nonius, Hungarian Sport Horse, Hungarian Cold Blooded Horse and Murinsulaner type adult brood mares. The most close relationship with the live weight (r=0.89-0.92; P<0.01) was shown the body condition and nutritional status related measurements (heart girth, 2nd width of rump). For the estimation of live weight with regression model the necessary data are as follows: hearth girth, 2nd width of rump and length of body (R2=0.91; P<0.01).

Estimation of mature live weight using some body measurements in Karya sheep

The aim of this study was to determine models which will be used for the estimation of adult live weights based on some body measurements using multiple regression model in Karya sheep of different age groups. Animal material of the study consisted of a total of 215 Karya sheep. Least squares means for live weight, body length, rump height, withers height, back height, chest depth, chest girth, and chest width of Karya sheep in Adnan Menderes University Group Sheep Breeding Program elite flock and breeder flocks were found as 47.24 kg, 67.08, 68.29, 68.58, 66.97, 30.04, 93.24, and 18.29 cm, respectively. Karya ewes were put into five categories according to ages (2-6 years). High positive phenotypic correlation coefficients were observed between live weight and body measurements of animals in different age groups (2-6 years). Among the formed multiple regression models, the highest coefficients of determination (R(2)) were obtained from the models formed for body length or body length and chest girth together (R(2) = 0.79, R (2) = 0.87). It is concluded that live weight of Karya sheep can be estimated with a high accuracy using some body measurements and statistical methods.

In vivo prediction of live weight and carcass traits using body measurements in indigenous guinea fowl

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the relationship between live measurements and carcass traits, and develop linear regression models to predict live weight and set of carcass traits in an indigenous guinea fowl. Twenty eight adult indigenous birds of both sexes were used for the study. Live weight and body measurements were obtained before slaughter while carcass traits were taken on hot carcass. Result obtained from descriptive statistics showed that, mean performance were 1208?6.86g, 22.17?0.13 cm, 8.94?0.07cm, 2.96?0.03cm, 34.23?0.19cm, 850.15?7.18g, 267.23?1.69g, 72.39?0.64g and 70.38% for body weight, body length, thigh length, keel length, chest circumference, carcass weight, breast weight, thigh weight and dressing percentage. All the traits except for keel length were positively (P&lt;0.001) correlated to body weight. Chest circumference had the highest predictive power in live weight estimate (R2.558), while body weight stand out as the single most important variable in carcass weight and breast weight prediction (R2.820 and .902) This suggest that carcass weight and breast weight prediction can best be obtained using body weight, providing direction in developing model for selection and improvement of guinea fowl for meat production.

The effect of calf nutrition on the performance of dairy herd replacements

Sixty-five Holstein–Friesian calves were randomly allocated to one of eight nutritional treatments at 4 days of age. In this factorial design study, the treatments comprised of four levels of milk replacer (MR) mixed in 6 l of water (500, 750, 1000 and 1250 g/day) × two crude protein (CP) concentrations (230 and 270 g CP/kg dry matter (DM)). MR was fed via automatic teat feeders and concentrates were offered via automated dispensers during the pre-wean period. MR and calf starter concentrate intake were recorded until weaning with live weight and body measurements recorded throughout the rearing period until heifers entered the dairy herd at a targeted 24 months of age. There was no effect of MR protein concentration on concentrate or MR intake, and no effect on body size or live weight at any stage of development. During the pre-weaning period, for every 100 g increase in MR allowance, concentrate consumption was reduced by 39 g/day. While, for every 100 g increase in the amount of MR offered, live weight at days 28 and 270 increased by 0.76 and 2.61 kg, respectively (P < 0.05). Increasing MR feed levels increased (P < 0.05) heart girth and body condition score at recordings during the first year of life, but these effects disappeared thereafter. Increasing MR feeding level tended to reduce both age at first observed oestrus and age at first service but no significant effect on age at first calving was observed. Neither MR feeding level nor MR CP content affected post-calving live weight or subsequent milk production. Balance measurements conducted using 44 male calves during the pre-weaning period showed that increasing milk allowance increased energy and nitrogen (N) intake, diet DM digestibility, true N digestibility and the biological value of the dietary protein. Increasing the MR protein content had no significant effect on the apparent digestibility of N or DM.

In vivo prediction of live weight and carcass traits using body measurements in indigenous guinea fowl

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the relationship between live measurements and carcass traits, and develop linear regression models to predict live weight and set of carcass traits in an indigenous guinea fowl. Twenty eight adult indigenous birds of both sexes were used for the study. Live weight and body measurements were obtained before slaughter while carcass traits were taken on hot carcass. Result obtained from descriptive statistics showed that, mean performance were 1208?6.86 g, 22.17?0.13 cm, 8.94?0.07 cm, 2.96?0.03 cm, 34.23?0.19 cm, 850.15?7.18 g, 267.23?1.69 g, 72.39?0.64 g and 70.38% for body weight, body length, thigh length, keel length, chest circumference, carcass weight, breast weight, thigh weight and dressing percentage. All the traits except for keel length were positively (P&lt;0.001) correlated to body weight. Chest circumference had the highest predictive power in live weight estimate (R2 .558), while body weight stand out as the single most important variable in carcass weight and breast weight prediction (R2 .820 and .902) This suggest that that carcass weight and breast weight prediction can best be obtained using body weight, providing direction in developing model for selection and improvement of guinea fowl for meat production.

The effect of sex and feed supplementation with organic selenium and vitamin E on the growth rate and zoometrical body measurements of oat-fattened White Kołuda® geese*

This experiment was carried out on 200 White Koluda geese, 1 day old, randomly divided into 2 groups with 50 males and 50 females in each group. From the first day until week 13, birds from the control groups were fed basic feeds; in the experimental groups, feed was supplemented with 0.3 mg/kg of selenium and 100 mg/kg of vitamin E. Later on, all birds were fed for 1 week with 160 g of oat grain and 250 g of ground cereals per day, then with oat grain ad libitum. The body weight of each bird was measured individually on days 1, 7, 14, 21, 35, 49, 63, 77, 91, and 112, and growth rates were calculated. On the last day of the experiment, live zoometrical measurements were taken. On days 7, 14, 21, 35, and 63, the live body weights of geese from the experimental groups were significantly higher compared to those of the control groups (P < 0.05). Feed supplementation positively affected the length of the body and width of the chest (P < 0.05). The thickness of skin with subcutaneous fat was significantly lower in the experimental groups (P < 0.05). Regardless of the feeding group, significant sex-based differences were observed in the majority of the evaluated live body measurements (P < 0.05).