1Department of Animal Genetics and Breeding, College of Veterinary Science, SVVU-Tirupati-India
2Department of Animal Genetics and Breeding, College of Veterinary Science, SVVU-Proddatur-India
3Department of Livestock Production and Management, College of Veterinary Science, SVVU-Tirupati-India
*Corresponding author: B. Punya Kumari; E-mail: punya67@yahoo.co.in
Online published on 27 May, 2021.
Data collected on body weights and biometrical measurements i.e., height at withers, chest girth, body length, hip width, paunch girth, face length, ear length and tail length of 1421 goats at milk teeth, 2, 4, 6 and 8-teeth of age reared under field conditions in Rayalaseema region (Chittoor, YSR Kadapa, Anantapur and Kurnool) of Andhra Pradesh were subjected to least squares analysis to study the effect of district and sex. The least squares analysis of variance revealed significant effects of district and sex on body weights and measurements at one or the other ages studied. The overall least squares mean body weights (kg) at milk teeth, 2, 4, 6 and 8-teeth ages were 13.97 ± ± 0.16, 20.57 ± 0.38, 26.56 ± 0.68, 30.66 ± 0.62 and 34.64 ± 0.85, respectively. The overall least squares means for height at withers, chest girth, body length, hip width, paunch girth, face length, ear length and tail length at milk teeth age were 66.60 ± 0.29, 61.08 ± 0.25, 53.24 ± 0.25, 13.02 ± 0.08, 61.05 ± 0.27, 16.65 ± 0.10, 14.66 ± 0.08 and 14.51 ± 0.09 cm, respectively and the corresponding means at 8 teeth were 84.07 ± 0.72, 82.83 ± 0.69, 69.66 ± 0.99, 18.05 ± 0.56, 83.50 ± 0.95, 20.78 ± 0.24, 16.39 ± 0.30 and 16.56 ± 0.32 cm. The least squares mean were higher in males than in females and increased as age advances.
HIGHLIGHTS
The body weights and biometrical measurements linearly increased with age.
All the biometrical parameters revealed increase in trend with the advancement of the age.
Biometrical measurements, Body weight and Indigenous goats
