By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Life Science Weekly -- Investigators publish new report on Life Science Research - Animal Science. According to news originating from Armidale, Australia, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “The objective of this study was to determine the practicality of using linear body measurement traits to predict live weight of goats and sheep under communal grazing in three districts of Botswana, namely Central, Kweneng, and Kgalagadi. Pairwise (Pearson) correlations were estimated using bodyweight (BW) and morphological trait measurements, namely heart girth (HG), shoulder height (SH), and body condition score (BCS) for a sample of 1447 goats and 588 sheep.”
Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the University of New England, “These ranged from 0.19 to 0.94 for goats and 0.44 to 0.94 for sheep, and were statistically significant. In both animals, regardless of sex, the highest positive correlations were found between BW and HG, followed by BW and SH, then BW and BCS. The direct and indirect relationship between BW and morphological traits using a path analysis approach were also estimated. This analysis suggested that the direct effect of HG on BW was higher at 0.761 for male and 0.662 for female goats, respectively. Similarly, the direct effect of HG on BW was higher among sheep at 0.764 for males and 0.882 for females. The direct effects of SH in all the animals were also positively influenced by BW. It was concluded that among these three morphological traits, the most valuable for estimating the BW for goats and sheep in Botswana is HG, followed by SH. BCS was found non-significant. Path analysis therefore has an advantage over previous empirical studies by providing more detailed information on the relationships (direct and indirect) between these variables. A further implication of this study is that a conversion table could be constructed to help smallholder farmers to estimate the live weight of their sheep and goats from linear measurements.”
According to the news editors, the research concluded: “This would aid in the management and marketing of their livestock.”
For more information on this research see: Using path analysis to predict bodyweight from body measurements of goats and sheep of communal rangelands in Botswana. South African Journal of Animal Science , 2017;47(6):854-863. South African Journal of Animal Science can be contacted at: South African Journal Of Animal Sciences, C, O Estie Koster, PO Box 13884, Hatfield 0028, South Africa.
The news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained from O. Temoso, New England University, UNE Business Sch, Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia. Additional authors for this research include M. Coleman, D. Baker, P. Morley, L. Baleseng, A. Makgekgenene and S. Bahta.
The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.4314/sajas.v47i6.13. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.
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CITATION: (2018-01-09), Investigators at University of New England Discuss Findings in Animal Science (Using path analysis to predict bodyweight from body measurements of goats and sheep of communal rangelands in Botswana), Life Science Weekly, 3502, ISSN: 1552-2474, BUTTER® ID: 014973601
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