Journal details
Relationship of live weight and dressed carcass weight from different body measurements in Black Bengal goats (Capra hircus L.)
Published Date: 30 Dec 2016
Keywords: Capra hircus, carcass weight, heart girth, wither height
M. Khalequzzaman* and M. Nurul Islam Department of Zoology, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi 6205, Bangladesh
Abastract:
Context: There are relationship between carcass traits and body measurements in Black Bengal Goats of different ages. Objectives: To establish relationship between pre-slaughter traits and carcass weight, predict carcass weight and study the correlation between body weight and body measurement Materials and Methods: The present research work was conducted at Livestock Research and Development Station Rajabar hati, Rajshahi. Data were collected on 80 goats (40 male and 40 female) of different age groups (04-12, 13-18, 19-24, 24-36 months and above). Body weight (BW), Body length (BL) and Height-at-wither (HW) was measured. Ten castrated male goats of 10-18 months old were selected for carcass study. The relationship of BW and linear body measurements were estimated by Pearson correlation. This was done separately for the two sexes in cases of significant sex effect. Results: The mean BW of male in four age groups were recorded to be 12.9 ±1.25, 21.4 ± 0.48, 21.9 ± 0.50 and 27.6 ± 0.72 kg respectively while that of female in these age groups were observed to be 11.4 ± 1.36, 19.1 ± 0.74, 21.5 ± 0.70, 27.3 ± 0.70 kg respectively. The BL of male in the same age groups were recorded to be 64.9 ± 2.31, 74.4 ± 0.52, 73.2 ± 0.84, 80.4 ± 1.94 cm while that of female were 63.1 ± 2.34, 70.4 ± 0.70, 73.9 ± 0.85, 75.9 ± 1.70 cm, respectively. The mean HW in male in four age groups were noted to be 48.7 ± 1.75, 54.2 ± 0.59, 55.0 ± 0.49, 62.2 ± 1.89 cm respectively while that of female were recorded as 46.7 ± 2.23, 52.6 ± 1.53, 54.6 ± 0.48 and 58.2 ± 1.08 cm, respectively. The mean heart girth (HG) in male of four age groups were found to be 56.9 ± 2.44, 64.3 ± 0.7, 63.7 ± 0.7, 69.5 ± 1.95 cm, respectively while that of female in the same age groups were recorded as 53.6 ± 2.45, 63.7 ± 0.94, 63.6 ± 1.00 and 70.1 ± 1.35 cm, respectively. Male were found heavier (p<0.05) and longer (p<0.05) than female in all age groups. BW was correlated with BL (0.49, 0.12, 0.70, and 0.78), HW (0.75, 0.54, 0.62, and 0.72) and HG (0.64, 0.55, 0.53, and 0.71). Conclusion: Body measurements like BW, WH, HG, BL can be used as selection criteria to select goats for meat production, since the body measurements had high correlation with the body weight