article · Turkish Journal of Agriculture - Food Science and Technology
Accurate estimation of goat body weight is essential for management and trade, yet weighing scales are frequently unavailable in rural markets. An investigation of 633 adult goats from markets in South-West Nigeria, encompassing 394 West African Dwarf and 239 Red Sokoto animals, assessed the relationship between live body weight and twenty-three linear body measurements. Researchers analysed sex- and breed-specific patterns using multiple regression and classification and regression tree models. Across both breeds and sexes, live weight correlated strongly with chest and trunk dimensions. Heart girth proved to be the primary discriminator of body weight in both breeds, supported closely by chest depth and body depth. While individual trait contributions varied slightly according to breed and sex, the resulting predictive equations and decision-tree models accounted for most observed weight variations, offering dependable tools for field estimation.
Livestock keepers, traders, and breeding programmes frequently need to determine animal weight without access to commercial scales. By demonstrating that simple tape measurements of the chest and trunk reliably predict live weight, this research provides accessible, low-cost methods for pricing, dosage administration, and selective breeding in smallholder goat farming communities across West Africa.
This work represents an applied and tested analytical tool that could be directly adopted by livestock extension workers, farmers, and market actors. The models could be integrated into simple field charts, mobile applications, or measuring tapes calibrated specifically for West African Dwarf and Red Sokoto breeds. Further validation in additional geographic regions would be needed before wider commercial deployment.
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Linear body measurements and live body weight were obtained from 633 adult goats comprising 394 West African Dwarf (WAD; 282 females and 112 males) and 239 Red Sokoto (RS; 68 females and 171 males) sampled from selected goat markets in Osun, Ondo and Oyo States, South-West Nigeria. This study compared sex- and breed-specific correlation patterns among morphometric traits and compared the predictive traits usings multiple regression and classification and regression tree (CART) models for body weight (BW) estimation. Body weight and twenty-three morphometric traits were measured, and data were analysed using Pearson’s correlation, backward stepwise multiple regression, and CART algorithms. Across both breeds and sexes, body weight showed strong and consistent associations with trunk and chest dimensions, particularly heart girth, chest depth, and body depth, highlighting the central role of thoracic development in determining live weight. Predictive models based on selected morphometric traits accounted for most of the observed variation in body weight (P < 0.001), although the relative contribution of individual traits differed between sexes and breeds, reflecting sexual dimorphism and breed-specific body conformation. Tree-based analysis confirmed the regression findings, identifying HG as the primary discriminator of BW in both breeds, followed by CD and BD. The regression equations and CART models generated in this study provide reliable, field-applicable tools for objective BW estimation and informed selection decisions in WAD and RS goats where weighing scales are unavailable.
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DOI: 10.24925/turjaf.v14i8.2226-2232.8682
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