Paunch Girth Research Articles

Pre-Weaning Morpho-metric Measurements and Body Weights of Chhotanagpuri Sheep in its Breeding Tract

Data on 142 Chhotanagpuri lambs (62 males and 80 females) belonging to Deoghar district of Jharkhand were used for the present investigation. The mean body length, height at withers, chest girth, paunch girth, ear length and tail length were estimated to be 28.06 ± 0.36, 24.84 ± 0.38, 27.61 ± 0.41, 26.37 ± 0.42, 7.28 ± 0.16 and 7.97 ± 16 cm respectively for male lambs. The corresponding values for female lambs were 27.77 ± 0.34, 24.72 ± 0.29, 25.95 ± 0.38, 25.08 ± 0.38, 7.15 ± 0.15 and 7.96 ± 0.12 cm respectively. The mean of above body bio-metric at the age of 3-months were recorded as 39.48 ± 0.59, 38.61 ± 0.76, 42.72 ± 0.64, 43.91 ± 0.74, 10.83 ± 0.36 and 11.82 ± 0.39 cm for male lambs and 38.60 ± 0.53, 38.46 ± 0.61, 40.41 ± 0.63, 42.15 ± 0.72, 9.71 ± 0.34 and 10.63 ± 0.28 cm respectively for female lambs. The mean body weight of male lambs at birth, 1-month, 2-months and 3-months were estimated to be 1.82 ± 0.05, 3.49 ± 0.10, 5.36 ± 0.23 and 7.62 ± 0.34 kg, respectively. The corresponding values for females lambs were 1.71 ± 0.04, 3.11 ± 0.12, 5.01 ± 0.21 and 6.72 ± 0.32 kg, respectively.

Phenotypic characterization of Purky sheep population of Kargil district

Majority of the Kargil sheep populations are indigenous. Very scanty information is available for morphological characterization of Purky sheep population. Therefore, the present study was undertaken with the objectives to study the morpho-metric characteristics and body measurements for phenotypic characterization of the local sheep. A stratified random sample survey was conducted on various parameters (horn size, tail size, chest girth, punch girth, body length, height at wither and body weight) in seven different age groups. Data were collected randomly from 510 sheep of either sex. The local sheep population of Kargil which was selected for the present investigation is named as ‘Purky’ by the name of the community that reared this breed. In Purky sheep white body colour was predominant in both the sexes. The sheep breed was of low to medium body weight. The chest girth, punch girth, height at withers of Purky sheep showed it to be medium sized. Sex had significant effect (P is less than 0.05) on height at wither only. For males the least squares means were higher for all the traits of all age groups baring few exceptions. The phenotypic correlations of age groups with different morpho-metric traits were very high. The phenotypic correlations of body weight with other body measurements like tail size, chest girth, paunch girth, body length and height at wither were very high. Further studies should be carried out to fully exploit their genetic potential and to register the breed and in-situ conservation of this population.

Effect of chedu and mattha on growth performance of Murrah buffalo calves

The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of chedu and mattha on growth performance of Murrah buffalo calves. To assess the effect of chedu and mattha on growth rate, 20 growing buffalo calves of around 1 year of age and approximately of same weights were selected and were divided into 4 treatment groups having 5 animals in each group. The animals had access to ad libitum berseem hay as the basal roughage T0 (Control), T1 (Administration of mattha @ 2% of body weight with salt @ 0.5% of mattha), T2 (Application of chedu on their body @ 150 g per animal), T3 (Administration of mattha and application of chedu). Body weight of all buffalo calves was recorded at 15 days interval during the experimental period. From 75th day of experiment, significant effect (P<0.05) was observed in body weight, heart girth and height at withers of treatment groups as compared to control group whereas, body length and paunch girth showed significant effect (P<0.05) on 90th day of experiment. The results further indicated that use of chedu and mattha improved the health status of the calves and helped to attain a comparatively higher body weight and an early puberty. It can be concluded on the basis of findings of present research work that the use of chedu and mattha may be recommended for supplementation of calves’ diet, as it improves the health status of the calves and helps in the attainment of higher body weight and an early onset of puberty in the calves.

Prediction of body weights of Nellore sheep under field condition

Data on 1350 Nellore sheep of 2, 4, 6 and 8-teeth age, reared under field conditions in 12 mandals of Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh were utilized for development of prediction equations and study the phenotypic association among body measurements and body weights. The coefficients of correlation between body weight with the height at withers, chest girth, paunch girth, hip width and body length were positive and high in magnitude in both males and females in majority of the age groups studied. Step-down regression equations were fitted to predict the body weight based on biometrical measurements at different ages. The height at withers, chest girth, paunch girth, hip width and body length have contributed significantly to the expression of body weights at the majority of the ages studied. High coefficient of determination (R2) value was observed in males at 6 and 8-teeth age as 88 per cent, while in females 50 per cent at 2-teeth age.

Principal component analysis of biometric traits to reveal body confirmation in local hill cattle of Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh, India

Aim:In the present study, biometric traits (body length [BL], heart girth [HG], paunch girth (PG), forelimb length (FLL), hind limb length (HLL), face length, forehead width, forehead length, height at hump, hump length (HL), hook to hook distance, pin to pin distance, tail length (TL), TL up to switch, horn length, horn circumference, and ear length were studied in 218 adult hill cattle of Himachal Pradesh for phenotypic characterization.Materials and Methods:Morphological and biometrical observations were recorded on 218 hill cattle randomly selected from different districts within the breeding tract. Multivariate statistics and principal component analysis are used to account for the maximum portion of variation present in the original set of variables with a minimum number of composite variables through Statistical software, SAS 9.2.Result:Five components were extracted which accounted for 65.9% of variance. The first component explained general body confirmation and explained 34.7% variation. It was represented by significant loading for BL, HG, PG, FLL, and HLL. Communality estimate ranged from 0.41 (HL) to 0.88 (TL). Second, third, fourth, and fifth component had a high loading for tail characteristics, horn characteristics, facial biometrics, and rear body, respectively.Conclusion:The result of component analysis of biometric traits suggested that indigenous hill cattle of Himachal Pradesh are small and compact size cattle with a medium hump, horizontally placed short ears, and a long tail. The study also revealed that factors extracted from the present investigation could be used in breeding programs with sufficient reduction in the number of biometric traits to be recorded to explain the body confirmation.

Multivariate analysis of morphometric traits of three different indigenous cattle populations from North East states of India

In the present study an attempt has been made to differentiate three cattle populations of North East states of India i.e. Tripura, Mizoram and Manipur based on morphometric traits, using canonical discriminant analysis to see whether they are similar or distinct. Data consisted of eight different morphometric traits of 383 indigenous cows from Tripura (136), Mizoram (71) and Manipur (176). Morphometric traits included body length, height at withers, heart girth, paunch girth, face length, ear length, horn length and tail length without switch. All the morphometric traits under study differ significantly in these populations except horn length. All the traits, values were lower in Tripura cows than that of Mizoram and Manipur cows. The stepwise discriminant analysis showed that height at withers, body length, ear length, tail length without switch, paunch girth and face length were the most discriminating traits in these three cattle populations. The pair wise Mahalanobis distances between Tripura and Mizoram, Tripura and Manipur and Mizoram and Manipur were 9.72578, 5.72089 and 4.65239, respectively, and significant. The dendogram showed that there are two clusters; cluster one includes Manipur and Mizoram cows and cluster two Tripura cows those are clearly separated from cluster one. The Individual assignment of different cattle populations by the cross-validation classification revealed 84.13% of Tripura cows, 82.09% of Mizoram cows and 79.87% Manipur cows were assigned correctly into their respective population. Based on the present study we cannot conclude that they are three different distinct breeds. However, the present information on the three cattle populations could therefore be exploited in designing appropriate strategies for their management and conservation.

Morphometrical and production traits of Bengal sheep in West Bengal, India

SummaryThe study was conducted to phenotypically characterize the Bengal (Desi) sheep in some purposively selected villages of Nadia and Murshidabad districts of West Bengal, India. The Bengal sheep is reared as mutton sheep and has not been studied or characterized. Qualitative (coat colour and tail type) and quantitative (height at withers, height at rump, chest circumference, paunch girth, oblique body length, head length, head width, ear length, horn length, shoulder width, ear width, pelvic width, canon length, length of the fore leg, length of the hind leg, fore canon circumference, neck circumference, neck length, body weight) traits were included in the study. Phenotypic traits indicated that the sheep is of a small, thin tailed type adapted to grazing in water logged areas and lowly to moderately prolific. The structural indices indicate that the sheep is forward aligned, robust and rectangular in shape; it is well balanced and adapted for humid climates. The wool is coarse and hairy type, used for making blankets and durries. The reproductive parameters indicate that the age at first service was 295 days for ewes and 252 days for rams while the age at first lambing averaged around 425 days. Conservation efforts and genetic characterization are needed to maintain the breed purity and further studies regarding the carcass and mutton quality traits need to be carried out

Comparative study on the performances of local and their crosses with Boer goats

For this comparative study, 50 kids of each of both Boer crossbred goats and local goats were supplemented with concentrate @100g, 150g and 200 g / head / day during 3–4 months, 4-6 months and 6-9 months of age, respectively. The birth weight and fortnight interval body weight of the goats were recorded. The biometric measurements of the goats were recorded at birth and at 3 monthly intervals. At 9 months of age, serum minerals and biochemical profile of the goats were determined. The body weight of Boer crossbred goats was significantly higher than that of local goats. The body length, height at withers, height at croup, chest girth, and paunch girth values of Boer cross goats and local goats differed significantly between the breeds in all the ages of study except the oblique body length of Boer crossbred and Local female kids at birth, oblique body length of Boer crossbred and local male kids at 3 months. The serum protein, serum glucose, serum albumin and serum globulin levels between male and female goats of local and Boer crossbred goats did not differ significantly. The serum calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, copper and zinc levels between male and female goats of local and Boer crossbred goats did not differ significantly. The economics of production of Boer crossbred goats were found to be better than that of local goats. From this experiment, it may be concluded that Boer crossbred goats have higher growth rate with better net return per animal than that of local goats.

Indigenous cattle of Manipur - Characterization and performance evaluation

Manipur had 2.63 lakh cattle head including 2.19 lakh indigenous and 0.44 lakh crossbred in the year 2012. The trends in cattle population during the years 2003-07 showed a decline of 18.32% in total cattle population, 20.86% in indigenous cattle and 6.06% in crossbred cattle. There is not a single registered breed of cattle from the state. In the present study an attempt was made to characterize and evaluate indigenous cattle of the state as there is no information available in the literature on these cattle. Surveys were conducted in Imphal East, Imphal West (Valley districts) and Churachandpur (Hilly district) districts. Farmers (83) and animals (363) of different age and sex from 13 villages were included in the present study. The indigenous cattle of Manipur are of medium size, stout and hardy. Animals were reared mainly on extensive system of management i.e. grazing from morning to evening. During December to June when rice crop is there, animals were provided rice bran and rice waste as concentrate. The body colour was different i.e. brown (76%), black (12%), gray (4%) and spotted with black or white patches on brown body (8%). Bullocks had medium hump. Horns were small, black (82%) or gray (18%) in colour. Udder was small, not well developed and milk veins were not prominent. Temperament was docile in all the cases. The average body length, height at wither, heart girth, paunch girth, ear length, face length, tail length without switch and horn length in cows were measured. Cows and bullocks did not differ significantly in all the morphometric traits. The average daily milk yield was 2.65±0.18 kg (2.0 to 4.5 kg). Animals showed uniformity in physical and morphometric traits. Cows showed good potential for milk production and there is a need of systematic genetic improvement programs to develop and improve the milk productivity.

Polymorphism and association of growth hormone gene with growth traits in Sirohi and Barbari breeds of goat.

Aim:The aim was to study the polymorphism of exon 2 and exon 3 of growth hormone (GH) gene, to test the polymorphic variants for Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium and to investigate association of these polymorphisms with chest girth and paunch girth in Sirohi and Barbari breeds of goat.Materials and Methods:A total of 80 kids involving forty each of Sirohi and Barbari breeds of goat were included in the study. A good quality genomic DNA isolated from the whole blood using standard protocol were used for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and products obtained on restriction digestion of amplicon with enzyme HaeIII were separated on 2% agarose gel, and documented in a gel doc system. The chest girth and paunch girth of kids at birth and weekly intervals up to 4 weeks of age and subsequently at 2 months, 3 months and 6 months of age were recorded. Allele frequency and genotype distribution of polymorphism were tested for Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium by program me Genepop package. Association between different genetic variants on chest girth and paunch girth were analyzed by least squares analysis employing suitable statistical model.Results:The PCR product of genomic DNA isolated from kids of Sirohi and Barbari breeds of goat on digestion with the restriction enzyme HaeIII revealed two genotypic variants viz., AB and BB. None of the two breeds was in Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium for these variants. The least squares analysis of variance revealed non-significant effect of GH genotype and breed × genotype interaction on chest girth and paunch girth from birth to 180 days of age. The effect of breed was highly significant (p<0.01) at all ages.Conclusion:The present study showed that both the breeds were polymorphic at the exon 2 and exon 3 loci of GH gene under study with respect to HaeIII restriction endonuclease. None of the breeds was in Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium for this region of GH gene. In the present study, no significant association between GH genotype and chest girth and paunch girth could be established but comparatively higher chest girth and paunch girth were observed for AB genotype across the breeds.

Phenotypic Characterization and Multivariate Analysis to Explain Body Conformation in Lesser Known Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) from North India.

Phenotypic characterization and body biometric in 13 traits (height at withers, body length, chest girth, paunch girth, ear length, tail length, length of tail up to switch, face length, face width, horn length, circumference of horn at base, distances between pin bone and hip bone) were recorded in 233 adult Gojri buffaloes from Punjab and Himachal Pradesh states of India. Traits were analysed by using varimax rotated principal component analysis (PCA) with Kaiser Normalization to explain body conformation. PCA revealed four components which explained about 70.9% of the total variation. First component described the general body conformation and explained 31.5% of total variation. It was represented by significant positive high loading of height at wither, body length, heart girth, face length and face width. The communality ranged from 0.83 (hip bone distance) to 0.45 (horn length) and unique factors ranged from 0.16 to 0.55 for all these 13 different biometric traits. Present study suggests that first principal component can be used in the evaluation and comparison of body conformation in buffaloes and thus provides an opportunity to distinguish between early and late maturing to adult, based on a small group of biometric traits to explain body conformation in adult buffaloes.

Characterization, performance and genetic diversity among goats of Odisha

Phenotypic and biometric characterization was carried out of local goat populations of Odisha. The populations included Ganjam, Kalahandi, Ghumusar, Narayanpatnam, Raigarhi and Malkangiri goats. Ganjam goats are distinctly different from other populations because of long pointed horns. The body measurements of adult (12 months) males for heart girth, height at withers, body length, and paunch girth were measured. The coat colour of goats was recorded. The average body length, body height, chest girth, paunch girth, face length, horn length, ear length and tail length in adult female and male were measured. The biometric estimates for height at withers, body length, chest girth, paunch girth, face length, horn length, ear length and tail length indicated the average measurements. Genetic Biodiversity study includes 192 individuals of goats belonging to two recognized (Ganjam and Black Bengal) breeds and 2 lesser known goat populations (Kalahandi and Ghumusar) genotyped for a battery of 25 microsatellites. The number of observed allele for each locus ranged from 2.00 to 21.00. The highest number of allele was observed for locus OarFCB304 for Ganjam goat breed and lowest number of allele was observed for locus ETH225 for Kalahandi goat population. Polymorphic Information Content (PIC) value and bottleneck analysis were studied. Ghumusar and Kalahandi have the highest genetic distance (1.996) from the others and Ganjam and Black Bengal have minimum (0.346) genetic distance. In the neighbor joining diagram. the Ghumusar and Kalahandi goat populations plots separately from the other breeds/populations.

Morphometric characterization of local goats of Karnataka

A total of 991 local goats of different age groups were randomly selected for collecting data on morphometric characters from four agro-climatic zones of Southern Karnataka. The overall average body weights of adult males and females were 21.87±0.54 and 21.19±0.44 kg, respectively and the respective values were 59.37±0.82 and 60.38±0.65 cm for height, 59.93±0.83 and 61.58±0.62 cm for chest girth, 60.03±0.81 and 61.29±0.62 cm for paunch girth and 51.47±0.70 and 53.00±0.54 cm for body length. Pearson correlation analysis of various measures revealed significant (P<0.001) correlation between body weights and other measures. Highest correlation was observed between paunch girth and chest girth (0.944) followed by height and chest girth (0.936).

Discriminate analysis of biometric traits of different indigenous cattle populations of Uttarakhand state of India

An attempt has been made to differentiate different cattle populations from different districts of Uttarakhand state based on biometric traits, using canonical discriminant analysis to see whether they are similar or distinct as there was larger proportion (75%) of indigenous un described cattle. Data consisted of eight different biometric traits on 300 indigenous cows from Almora, Pithoragarh, Rudarpryag, Chamoli and Uttarkashi districts. All the morphometric traits under study differ significantly in these populations except heart girth. The stepwise discriminant analysis showed that ear length, body length, horn length, height at withers, face length, heart girth and paunch girth were the most discriminating traits among these cattle populations. The pair wise Mahalanobis distancess was maximum in cows of Rudarpryag and Uttarkashi districts (8.34645) and minimum in Rudarpryag and Chamoli districts (1.24742). Only 47.32% of Almora cows, 67.05% of Pithoragarh cows, 45.28% of Rudarpryag cows, 39.62% of Chamoli cows and 50% of Uttarkashi cows were classified correctly into their source population by cross validation method which revealed that they are not distinct. High values of overall error 48.50% also revealed similar observations.

Path analysis of the relationship between body weight and some linear characters in West African Dwarf sheep

The usefulness of correlation analysis in life sciences is enhanced when the coefficient is partitioned into direct effects of one trait on the other and indirect effects caused by other characters which may be of importance in selection. A total of 417 mature (>22 months) West African Dwarf (WAD) sheep comprising of 201 rams and 216 ewes intensively reared were used for this study. Data were taken on body weight (BW) and 19 linear conformation traits. Linear body measurements considered were rump width (RW), rump length (RL), tail length (TL), wither height (WH),thorax depth (TD), shin circumference (SC), heart girth (HG), paunch girth (PG), rump height (RH), ear length (EL), fore-leg length (FLL), rear-leg length (RLL), body length (BL), shoulder width (SW), neck circumference (NC), head length (HL), head width (HW), horn length (HoL) and hock length (Hock). Descriptive statistics and path coefficients were computed. Correlation analysis was also explored to determine the degree of association among variables. Sexual dimorphism was observed in all traits considered (p< 0.05), except RL. Large coefficients of variation were obtained for BW, PG and NC relative to other traits considered. All linear traits had significantly positive (p< 0.05) correlations with BW in both sexes. The ranges of correlation between BW and all linear body parameters were, 0.227–0.726 and 0.183–0.878 in rams and ewes, respectively. The highest correlations with BW in rams and ewes were obtained for HG and NC, respectively. Significant path coefficients were obtained for HG and TD in rams while HG, FLL, PG, NC and RL had significant (p< 0.05) path coefficients in ewes. Though many predictor variables were considered in this study, it was concluded that HG contributed most to the coefficient of determination in both sexes. Moreover, all other predictor variables with similar (p> 0.05) path coefficients had high correlations with BW, their indirect effects were obtained mostly through HG.

Body linear traits for identifying prolific goats

Aim: The present study was conducted on prolific goat breed to identify body linear type traits that might be associated with prolificacy trait in goats. Materials and Methods: Two-stage stratified random sample survey based data were collected from 1427 non-pregnant goats with the history of single, twin and triplet litter sizes (LZ) between January 2008 to February 2011 for 3 years in 68 villages located in East and North East India. Data on sixteen body linear traits were analyzed using logistic regression model to do the step-wise selection for identifying the body linear traits that could determine LZ. An average value for each identified body linear trait was determined for classifying the goats into three categories: Goats having the history of single LZ, goats having the history of twin LZ and goats having the history of triplet LZ. Results: The LZ proportions for single, twin and triplet, were 29.50, 59.14 and 11.36%, respectively, with the prolificacy rate of 181.85% in Indian Black Bengal goats. A total of eight body linear traits that could determine LZ in prolific goats were identified. Heart girth (HG) measurement (>60.90 cm), paunch girth (PG) (>70.22 cm), wither height (WH) (>49.75 cm), neck length (>21.45 cm), ear length (>12.80 cm) and distance between trochanter major (DTM) bones (>12.28 cm), pelvic triangle area (PTA) (>572.25 cm 2 ) and clearance at udder (CU) (>23.16 cm) showed an increase likelihood of multiple LZ when compared to single LZ. Further, HG measurement (>62.29 cm), WH (>50.54 cm), PG (>71.85 cm) and ear length (>13.00 cm), neck length (>22.01 cm), PTA (>589.64 cm 2 ), CU (>23.20 cm) and DTM bones (>12.47 cm) were associated with increased likelihood of triplet LZ, when compared with that of twin LZ. Conclusion: HG measurement was the best discriminating factor, while PG, neck length, DTM bones, CU, PTA, WH and ear length measurements were other important factors that could be used for identifying prolific goats to achieve economic benefit out of prolificacy trait.

Genetic discrimination of Muzaffarnagri and Munjal sheep of northwestern semi arid zone of India based on microsatellite markers and morphological traits

Muzaffarnagri and Munjal are both mutton-type and highly course-wooled sheep of north-western-semi arid zone of India. Muzaffarnagri is a descript sheep breed while Munjal is not recognized as a breed at the national level. The present study examines the genetic differentiation based on microsatellite markers and morphometric traits using multivariate analysis. A total of 194 Munjal and 294 Muzaffarnagri sheep were described for 7 body measurements for morphometric characterization. The study included animals aged between 2- to 8-teeth, raised under field conditions in semi-arid environment. The univariate analysis revealed that Munjal sheep were larger and heavier than Muzaffarnagri sheep. The sexual dimorphism (m/f) was 1.13 (Munjal) and 1.11 (Muzaffarnagri). Munjal males were 37% heavier than females, whereas Muzaffarnagri males were 27% heavier than females. The coefficient of variation of all traits ranged from 4.14 to 33.67%. Flock and age effects established high heterogeneity among females of different flocks in both breeds/populations, whereas in males these effects showed homogeneity between flocks in Muzaffarnagri sheep and heterogeneity in Munjal sheep. Step-wise discriminant analysis revealed that paunch girth followed by tail length was more discriminating for the 2 sheep breeds/populations. The Mahalanobis distance (3.65, female; 4.56, male) between 2 sheep breeds was high and significant. Nearest Neighbour Discriminant Analysis showed that 86.31% of Muzaffarnagri females and 90.48% of Munjal males were classified into their source population. Microsatellite markers data showed high level of allelic richness (&gt;6.0) and genetic diversity (&gt;0.7) for both breeds/populations. Bayesian cluster analysis also indicated distinct clusters with average membership coefficient of 0.974 and 0.972 for Muzaffarnagri and Munjal sheep respectively. The results based on morphological and microsatellite data revealed that these sheep belong to genetically distinct groups. The findings emerged on genetic and phenotypic analyses would serve as important inputs for designing conservation and improvement strategy for these sheep breeds/populations.

Berari goats: Characterization, management, performance and population status

Berari is recently recognized as 23rd goat breed of India with accession number INDIA_GOAT_1100_BERARI_0623. The Berari goat, a breed of central region of India (Vidarbha region of Maharashtra), is low yielding prolific meat breed thriving well in tropical wet and dry climate. The data were collected on 1,232 Berari goats from 353 farmers spread over 82 villages of 25 Talukas of 11 district of Vidarbha region of Maharashtra and also from college farms. The average daily milk yield of Berari goats is 533.28 g/day with a total lactation yield of 78 kg in 130 days of lactation, while age at first conception is 10 to 11 months. The breed is having a good prolificacy i.e. 57% twinning, 2% triplets/quadruplets. The coat colour of Berari goat ranges from dark tan to light tan. Horns were noticed in both the sexes and were straight, orientation of horn was mostly found as upward-backward. All the Berari goat had pendulous (drooping), flat and leafy ear and convex forehead. Majority of Berari goats (98%) did not have beard and wattle and does had bowl shaped udder (89%) with conical teat shape and pointed teat tip. The mean chest girth, body length, height at wither, paunch girth, horn length, ear length and tail length for adult animals (above 2 years of age) measured 73.3, 63.1, 71.3,76.2, 9.6, 15.7 and 13.7 cm, respectively. The body weights in male and female at 1-2 years of age were 27.4 and 24.1 kg and that of adult goats 34.5 and 27.3 kg, respectively. On the basis of body measurements and body weights the Berari goat was decided as medium size goat. Light to dark strip on lateral sides from base of horn to nostrils, black colour ring around neck in adult male, and black hair line along with the vertebral column extending up to tail in both sexes was observed as unique characteristic in Berari goat.

Morphometric characterization of Nigerian indigenous sheep using multifactorial discriminant analysis

Adequate knowledge of diversities within and between animal populations will not only help in reducing misidentification in animal husbandry but also aid conservation of many important endangered alleles. A total number of 1195 animals comprising 380 Yankasa sheep, 414 Uda sheep, 224 Balami sheep and 177 West African Dwarf (WAD) sheep were sampled from Osun and Oyo states, South Western Nigeria. Yankasa and WAD were sampled from traditionally managed flock while Balami and Uda sheep were obtained from markets in these states. Seventeen (17) morphometric characters were measured to study their phenotypic variations. The characters measured include rump width (RW), rump length (RL), tail length (TL), wither height (WH), heart girth (HG), paunch girth (PG), rump height (RH), ear length (EL), foreleg length (FLL), rear-leg length (RLL), body length (BL), shoulder width (SW), neck circumference (NC), head length (HeL), head width (HW), horn length (HL) and hock length (HoL). Stepwise multifactorial discriminant analysis was explored to check traits that best differentiate the Nigerian sheep. Length of tail was the most discriminating character among the eight distinguishing traits found. Longest genetic distance was found between WAD and Uda sheep while the closest breeds were Balami and Uda, as indicated by the Euclidian distance. The large Euclidian distance obtained for genetic gap between Uda and WAD sheep gives prospect for improvement if they are crossbred. Since Uda and WAD have been reared successfully in the arid Northern region and trypano-endemic region of Southern humid Nigeria, respectively, crossing WAD with Uda will produce a relatively large, heat tolerant and trypanotolerant hybrid. Key word: Phenotypic variation, Nigerian sheep, discriminant analysis.

Predicting Body Weight and Longissimus Muscle Area Using Body Measurements in Subtropical Goat Kids

Thirty subtropical goat kids were used to predict live body weight (BW) and longissimus muscle area (LMA) using body measurements with the help of ultrasound scanning. Body measurements included body length (BL), heart girth (HG), withers height, rump height and paunch girth, in addition to body condition score measurements. Correlation coefficients between both BW and LMA, with the different measurements, were calculated. Simple and multiple regression analyses were used to calculate the prediction equations. All body measurements studied were significantly correlated with each of BW (r = 0.52 – 0.91) and LMA (r = 0.50 – 0.89). Both HG (r = 0.91) and BL (r = 0.90) presented the highest correlations with BW of kids, while the measurements of BW, BL and HG presented the highest correlations (r = 0.87 – 0.89) with LMA. Live BW of kids was accurately and significantly (p <0.001) predicted by the measurements of HG and BL with R 2 = 0.88. While BW, BL and HG were significantly (p < 0.001) used to predict LMA with R 2 = 0.83. Therefore, in the field, it is available to assess live body weight and longissimus muscle area of growing kids by using body measurements.