BAKER T. JABER AND AHMED A. ADHAB*
Department of Animal Production, College of Agriculture, University of Diyala, Iraq
*(e-mail: Ahmed.a.adhab@gmail.com; Mobile: 00964 78089 71604)
(Received: February 15, 2023; Accepted: March 21, 2023)
ABSTRACT
The aim of the research was to know the effect of some factors on the body dimensions of goats at the age of nine months. This study was conducted at the ruminant research station of the General Authority for Agricultural Research/Ministry of Agriculture. The study included the analysis of 123 records belonging to 46 local animals and 77 Cypriot animals for the genetic and non-genetic factors on body dimensions at the age of nine months. The general average of abdominal depth, chest width, abdominal width and the height of the back area at the age of nine months were 30, 10.9, 11.7 and 57.31 cm, respectively. There was highly significant effect of the genetic group on the height of the posterior region. At the same time, the rest of the studied traits did not affect the result of the genetic group. There was no significant effect of each animal’s sex and type of birth on the dimensions at the age of nine months. In contrast, the width of the abdomen was significantly affected as a result of the month of birth, while the other dimensions were not affected. The mother’s age at birth significantly affected the depth of the abdomen, while the rest of the studied body dimensions were unaffected. Also, the regression on the weight of nine months was highly significant for all measurements at the age of nine months. It can be concluded that there was a group of factors that had an effect on the dimensions of the body at the age of marketing (nine months), which is a determinant of increasing the marketing growth through the increase or decrease of the physical dimensions of it.
Key words : Local goats, Cypriot goats, body dimensions, genetic, non-genetic factors