Use of biometric measures to estimate body weight in sheep
Abstract
The objective was to evaluate the use of biometric measures to estimate body weight of meat-type sheep, using a total of 200 animals, 42 males and 158 females, between 2 and 42 months of age. Anterior and posterior heights, body length, heart girth, width of rump and chest and thigh circumference, were measured. Body compactness was also estimated as body weight/body length. Body weights were related to biometric values through linear regressions. Among the measures used, heart girth, body length and body compactness were the best options for predicting body weight, as their equations had the highest coefficients of determination, low coefficients of variation, and high significance (P <0.0001). In conclusion, the equations generated from the biometric measures of heart girth and body length can be used to estimate the body weight of male and female meat-type sheep of different breeds and ages.
