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Predicting live weight of rural African goats using body measurements
Livestock Research for Rural Development
  • Josue Chinchilla-Vargas, Iowa State University
  • M Jennifer Woodward-Greene, U.S. Department of Agriculture
  • Curtis P Van Tassell, U.S. Department of Agriculture
  • Clet Wandui Masiga, Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA)
  • Max F Rothschild, Iowa State University
Document Type
Article
Publication Version
Published Version
Publication Date
7-1-2018
Abstract

The goal of the current study was to develop simple regression-based equations that allow small-scale producers to use simple body measurements to accurately predict live weight of typical African goats. The data used in this study were recorded in five African countries, and was composed of 814 individuals of 40 indigenous breeds or populations and crosses that included 158 males and 656 females. Records included the live weight measured with a hanging scale, linear body measurements, country, breed, owner, and age. Country, breed, age, chest girth, height at withers, body length, and shoulder width had large effects (p76 cm, the prediction model selected that included linear terms for chest girth, body length, shoulder width and height at withers plus a quadratic term for chest girth was selected as the most accurate. When analyzed within country from Uganda and Zimbabwe, animals with chest girth < 55cm the linear model with additional quadratic terms for chest girth and body length was selected. For animals with chest girth 55-75cm the linear model with the added quadratic terms for chest girth and body length was selected for animals from Malawi and Zimbabwe while the linear model with a quadratic term for chest girth was selected for Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda. For animals with chest girth of >76 cm the linear model with a quadratic term for chest girth was chosen for Tanzania, while for the other countries the linear model with quadratic terms for chest girth and body length was most accurate. In all cases, the models produced smaller mean prediction errors than the BM method.

Comments

This article is published as Chinchilla-Vargas J, Woodward-Greene M J, Van-Tassell C P, Wandui-Masiga C and Rothschild M F. 2018. Predicting live weight of rural African goats using body measurements. Livestock Research for Rural Development. Volume 30, Article #123.

Rights
Works produced by employees of the U.S. Government as part of their official duties are not copyrighted within the U.S. The content of this document is not copyrighted.
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Citation Information
Josue Chinchilla-Vargas, M Jennifer Woodward-Greene, Curtis P Van Tassell, Clet Wandui Masiga, et al.. "Predicting live weight of rural African goats using body measurements" Livestock Research for Rural Development Vol. 30 Iss. 7 (2018) p. 123
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/max-rothschild/261/