Zootechnical Index Analysis of West African Dwarf Rams in Southwestern Nigeria

Abstract

The study was conducted to evaluate the zootechnical index analysis of West African Dwarf (WAD) rams. Twenty body measurements were taken on 100 WAD rams of average ages of 18-24 months. Data collected were subjected to PROCMEANS procedure of the SAS (2004) package. The average body weight of the animals was 39.20 ± 0.95 kg, the coefficient of variation indicated variability between 1.45% (head width) and 12.90% (body weight) which were the lowest and highest variability, respectively. Thus, a moderate variability of coefficient of variation ranging between 8% and 12.90% in all morphological measures was considered. Also the variability between the rams with respect to the zootechnical indices is indicated by their coefficient of variation which ranged between 0.11% (length) to 10.80% (cephalic). There was a positive and significant correlation between body weight and other phenotypic traits (P < 0.001) except for ear width, chest girth, neck length, neck width, and also head width. The result obtained in this study revealed that the estimated zootechnical indices reinforced classification of WAD breed as a small-sized and short-shaped body frame suitable for the sporting activities as preferred by the users.