DETERMINATION OF APPROPRIATE MODEL FOR THE ESTIMATION OF BODY WEIGHT IN GOATS

A total of 194 kids’ monthly body weight and body measurements (heart girth, height at wither and body length) records were analysed at the University of Maiduguri to determine the appropriate model for estimating body weight at both preweaning and postweaning ages. The average weights at birth were 1.8kg and 1.67kg for males and females, respectively. The corresponding values for heart girth (HGT), height at wither (HWT) and body length (BLT) was 25.14 and 30.26cm, 28.03cm and 27.28cm and 31.76 and 30.96cm, respectively. Heart girth, BLT and HWT at this age were 47.46 and 46.34cm, 66.99 and 65.51cm and 51.07 and 49.27cm, respectively for both sexes. The correlation coefficients between body weight and body measurements at all ages were high. Body weight predictions based on the coefficient of determination (R 2 ) of the regression equations varied among body measurements, sexes and ages. Heart girth had the highest followed by BLT and lastly, HWT. However, a combination of HGT with any of the other measurements (BLT and HWT) or both gave a better prediction than HGT alone. In addition, prediction of body weight using body measurement was better among the males while the efficiency improved with age. It could be concluded that HGT can be used to predict body weight in kids, though its combination with body length or height at wither would give a better prediction at postweaning.