Prediction of Body Weight from Linear Body Measurement Traits of Boer Goats Raised at Farm Tivolie, Limpopo Province, South Africa

Abstract

A total of 72 Boer goats (females = 58 and males = 14) from the age of one to five years were used to determine the association between Body Weight (BW) and linear body measurement traits viz. Body Length (BL), Heart Girth (HG), Rump Height (RH), Rump Width (RW), Ear Length (EL), Cannon Circumference (CC) and Heard Width (HW) and to establish a model for the prediction of BW using linear body measurement traits. Pearson correlation results indicated that BW in Boer goats had a positively high statistically association (P<0.01) with BL (r = 0.86**), HG (r = 0.89**), RH (r = 0.75**), CC (r = 0.58**) and HW (r = 0.65**). Furthermore, the results showed that BW in bucks had a positively high statistical correlation (P<0.01) with BL (r = 0.62**), HG (r = 0.83**), RH (r = 0. 56**) and HW (r = 0.51**) and a positive statistical correlation (P<0.05) with RW (r = 0.31*) and CC (r = 0.36*), as well as a negative statistical association (P<0.05) with EL (r = -0.25*). The regression results suggest that improving BL and HG might result in the improvement of BW in Boer goats.