S. ÇİLEK1 and M. PETKOVA2
1 University of Kırıkkale, Department of Animal Breeding Science, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Yahşihan, 71451, Kırıkkale, Turkey
2 Agricultural Academy, Institute of Animal Science (IAS) - Kostinbrod 2232, Bulgaria
Çilek, S. and M. Petkova, 2016. Phenotypic correlations between some body measurements and prediction of body weight of Malya sheep. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 22 (Suppl. 1): 99–105
This experimental research was carried out to determinate phenotypic correlations among some body measurements of Malya sheep and prediction of body weight from these measurements. By using body measurements of total 316 heads that included male, female, adult and yearlings, phenotypic correlations among some body measurements (wither height, rump height, back height, rump length, rump width, front cannon bone circumference, body length, chest circumference, chest depth, chest length, chest width, tail length, tail-tarsal joint distance, tail width, head length, head circumference, head width, distance between ears, ear length and ear width) were estimated and relationships between body weight and chosen body measurements were investigated. Phenotypic correlation between body weight and all body measurements was favorable and statistically significant (P<0.001). Increase in body weight will occur parallel to the growth of all parts of the body. The Pearson correlation coefficient between body weight with chest circumference, rump height, rump width, body length, chest length, head circumference, tail-tarsal joint distance and tail width were 0.86, 0.56, 0.57, 0.76, 0.70, 0.63, 0.30 and 0.46, respectively. The highest phenotypic correlation was between body weight and chest circumferences. It can be concluded that heart circumference is the most appropriate parameter to estimate body weight of sheep. More confident predictions can be made by using the chest circumference together with other measurements. The regression model for predicting body weight was estimated by using more variables.