S et al.

Bulletin of the National Research Centre

[Link]
(2019) 43:17
Bulletin of the National
Research Centre

RESEARCH Open Access

Some body measurements as a

management tool for Shami goats raised in
subtropical areas in Egypt
Abd-Allah, S*, H. H. Abd-El Rahman, M. M. Shoukry, M. I. Mohamed, Fatma M. Salman and A. A. Abedo

Abstract
Background: This filed work was conducted to describe the morphological features of Shami goats in subtropical
areas in Egypt. The study covered Southern Sinai and Noubaria districts in Egypt. Data were collected from 30 goats
of different age groups. Fifteen were males and 15 were females.
Results: Results show that male was heavier and longer than female. The mean live body weight (LBW) of the male
group was 35.40 kg, while that of female group was 33.46 kg. However, these differences were not significant
(P > 0.05). The body length (BL) of male recorded 77.80 cm, while that of the female was 74.73 cm. Similarly,
the heart girth (HG), as well as withers height (WH), was also higher (P < 0.05) in male than those of the female. Both
HG (r = 0. 98) and neck circumference (NC) (r = 0.96) presented the highest correlations with LBW of males, while the
measurements of BL and head length (HEL) presented the highest correlations (r = 0.95–0.86) with LBW of females. Live
body weight of the male was accurately and significantly (P < 0.01) predicted by the measurements of HG and NC with
R2 = 0.98. While BL and paunch girth (PG) were significantly (P < 0.01) used to predict LBW of the female with R2 = 0.92.
Stepwise regression analysis determined that BL and HG were the major significant contributors to the LBW prediction
equation of total (male and female). Body length was the first independent variable to enter the model followed by
HG, NC, and PG entered the best-fitted regression models. Thus, they were the variables entered to obtain the optimal
regression models. The high correlation values between predicted and actual live body weight measurements give
credence to the validity of using these models for predicting live weights of Shami goats.
Conclusions: From this data, it could be concluded that the live weight can be predicted with high accuracy from some
body measurements which can be exploited by goat producers for management, selection, and genetic improvement of
Shami goats and could be used successfully in new breeding programs in Egypt.
Keywords: Body measurements, Management, Regression, Shami goats, Egypt

Introduction understanding of breed characteristics is necessary to guide

Phenotypic characterization of animal genetic resources decision-making in livestock development and breeding
(AnGR) is the process of identifying distinct breeds by programs (FAO, 2007).
describing their external and production characteristics In the last few years, there has been a growing interest
in a given environment and under given management, in breeding schemes. Quite recently, considerable attention
taking into account the social and economic factors. The has been paid to breeding programs of goats. Breeding pro-
information generated by phenotypic characterization stud- grams of goats are widely carried out in many countries of
ies is essential for planning the management of AnGR at the world and have led to the development of several spe-
local, national, regional, and global levels (FAO, 2012). The cialized breeds (Abd-Allah, 2014; Abd-Allah et al., 2015
global plan of action for AnGR recognizes that a good and 2016; Dubeuf et al., 2004; Morand-Fehr and Lebbie,
2004). Phenotypic characterization is essential in mapping
out an inventory of characteristics peculiar to a group of
* Correspondence: Sablogical2007@[Link]
Animal Production Department, Agriculture and Biology Division, National
animals and sustainable use of its animal genetic resources.
Research Centre , 33 El-Bohouth Street, Dokki, Giza 12622, Egypt Lack of information on characterization of the genetic
© The Author(s). 2019 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License ([Link] which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to
the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
S et al. Bulletin of the National Research Centre (2019) 43:17 Page 2 of 6

resource may lead to underutilization of that resource, its Use of Agricultural Animals in Research and Teaching,
replacement, and dilution through crossbreeding despite Federation of Animal Science Societies (FASS, 2010).
their local adaptation to prevailing environmental con- Two groups which contain 30 of bucks and does of
straints (Manzi et al., 2011). Several breeding programs Shami goats. The first group (southern Sinai region) in-
were applied on Shami goats in Syria, Cyprus, and volved 16 heads (10 males and 6 females), aging 1.5–3.5
Lebanon. However, in a review on goat breeding com- years, while the second group (Noubaria region) was
paring the performance of many of the world breeds, formed by 14 heads (5 males and 9 females) aging 1.4 years.
there was a little reference to the Shami (Damascus) According to the environmental conditions at the two
goat (Shrestha and Fahmy, 2007a and b). Shami goats sites under study, all goats were kept under equal man-
obtained importance in recent years, as it is a special- agement and the ration was offered daily in two parts at
ized breed that could increase the productivity of 9 am and 4 pm, approximately. Fresh water and salt
Egyptian goat and reduce kid production costs. Al- blocks were available continuously during the experi-
though, weight is an important objective in a selection, mental period. All animals were fed on concentrate feed
the potential for genetic improvement largely depend mixture (CFM), consisted of 17% wheat bran, 15% cot-
on the genetic and phenotypic parameters of this trait ton seed meal, 50% yellow corn, 15% sunflower meal, 2%
upon which selection may be applied (Mavrogenis et al., limestone, and 1% salt, according to their live body
1984 and Das et al., 1996). Moreover, environmental influ- weight (NRC,1981), plus free available green Acacia and
ences can be controlled and corrected to permit more Atriplex or bean straw, where Acacia saligna and Atriplex
accurate identification of genetic differences between indi- halimus were collected daily from the experimental farm
vidual goats (Hermiz, 1998). During selection of goat, at- in El-Tor city, South Sinai.
tention should be given to the age, growth rate, LBW, HG,
BL, and WH. The prediction of BW and its relationships
Data collection
to other morphological measurements produces appre-
ciable knowledge for breeding investigation with regard to
Assessment of live body weight (LBW) Goats were
meat production per animal (Janssens and Vandepitte,
weighed individually by using a pallet balance of 500 kg
2004; Yilmaz et al., 2013 and Iqbal et al., 2013). The net
capacity, where this body weight was recorded in the
result of dependence on estimated live body weights is
morning before the animals were fed.
inefficiencies in both the management of animals and
inconsistencies in prices of goats which all work against
the farmer. Availability of a weight band and farmer Assessment of body linear measurements The linear
training on how to use it would assist resource-poor dimensions measured included the following eight linear
farmers in implementing good animal husbandry prac- body measurements: heart girth (HG), wither height
tices. The present experimental work, therefore, was (WH), body length (BL), chest depth (CD), head length
undertaken to characterize some body characteristics of (HEL), paunch girth (PG), shank circumference (SC),
Shami goat and has been used to determine the and neck circumference (NC).
best-fitted regression model for prediction of live body The height measurement (cm) was done using a gradu-
weight in subtropical districts such as South Sinai and ated measuring stick. The measurements were taken in the
Noubaria in an effort to develop local goat breeding strat- morning, with the animals standing on a flat surface with
egy in Egypt. head held up and held by three field assistants. The length
and circumference measurements (cm) were effected using
Materials and methods a tape rule. All measurements were carried out by the same
Description of the study area person in order to avoid individual variations.
During the period between 2015 and 2016, sampling was The measurements were taken as follows:
carried out in two selected governorats in subtropical
areas in Egypt, namely Southern Sinai and Noubaria region, 1. Heart girth (HG) was measured as a circumferential
respectively. A total of 30 Shami goats (15 females and 15 measure taken around the chest just behind the
males) located in two selected states. Experimental area has front legs and withers.
an arid climate with hot dry summer and cool winter pre- 2. Wither height (WH) was measured as the distance
vailing in this area. from the surface of a platform to the withers.
3. Body length (BL) was the distance from the base
Experimental procedure of the ear to the base of the tail (where it joins
Sampling procedure the body).
All procedures and experimental protocols were con- 4. Chest depth (CD) was measured as vertical distance
ducted in accordance with the Guide for the Care and from sternum to withers.
S et al. Bulletin of the National Research Centre (2019) 43:17 Page 3 of 6

5. Head length (HEL) was the distance measured from Bivariate correlations between body weight and
nodule of the horn to the upper lip of the animal. measurements of Shami goats
6. Paunch girth (PG) was measured as the circumference The correlation coefficient between live weight and body
of the body immediately after the abdomen just before measurement of the two sexes are shown in Table 2. It is
the hind legs. clear that the majority of correlation coefficients between
7. Shank circumference (SC) was measured from the measurements were high and significant (P < 0.01) in both
left mid metacarpus. males and females. The highest and strongly positive correl-
8. Neck circumference (NC) was measured as the ation (P < 0.01) was recorded between live body weight and
circumference of the neck at the midpoint. heart girth (0.98) for the male and of body length (0.95) for
female goats. On the other hand, lower estimates were re-
corded for the correlation of LBW with both CD (r = 0.76)
Data analysis for male and of NC (r = 0.69) for female does.
The program SPSS (2008) statistical package designed
for windows was used for the statistical analyses. Means Prediction of body weight from body measurements
were separated using the two-tailed, two-sample t test. Based on the importance of the independent variables in
Differences were considered to be significant at P < 0.05. predicting the live weight of Shami goats, three body
Relationships between the several body measurements measurements, namely BL, HG, and NC were found to
were calculated by Pearson correlations, and regression be more efficient. Body length was the first independent
equations were established. Live body weight was regressed variable to enter the model followed by hip HG, and NC
on linear body measurements using stepwise multiple linear entered the best-fitted regression models. Thus, they
regression analysis. The coefficient of determination (R2) were the variables entered to obtain the optimal regres-
was used to assess the accuracy of prediction equations sion models. It is necessary here to say that live weight
between live body weights and linear body measurements. of Shami goats can be predicted from BL and HG with a
Separate prediction equations were developed for the male coefficient of determination 0.92 and HG and NC with a
and female. coefficient of 0.98 for Shami male. Heart girth was not
the best variable to estimate live body weight for female
goats. It was the BL and PG with a coefficient of 0.93,
Results which was used to estimate weight for female. The
Descriptive analysis of body weight and morphological traits best-fitted regression models in each group were in-
Descriptive statistics of LBW and morphometric traits cluded in Table 3.
of Shami goats are shown in Table 1. The results
showed that there was a numerical mean difference be- Weight values corresponding to HG and BL measures for
tween males and females in all morphometric measure- male and female of Shami goats
ments. However, these differences were not significant Predicted live weights based on HG measurements had
(P < 0.05) indicating for HG, WH, BL, CD, HEL, and a 0.96 correlation coefficient to the actual live body
PG. Average live body weight was not significantly (P < weights for male, while predicted live weights obtained
0.05) higher in males than in females. While male had using BL model gave a correlation coefficient of 0.90 to
higher (P < 0.05) SC and NC. the actual live body weights for female (Table 4).
Table 1 Descriptive statistics of the morphological traits of Shami goats based on sex
Traits Shami goats (n = 30) Male (n = 15) Female (n = 15)
Mean SE SD CV (%) Mean SE SD Mean SE SD
LBW 34.43 1.95 10.68 31.01 35.40a 3.05 11.82 33.46a 2.51 9.73
HG 76.43 1.85 10.18 13.31 78.73a 3.04 11.79 74.13a 2.07 8.03
a a
WH 64.96 1.18 6.51 10.02 64.80 1.94 7.54 65.13 1.43 5.56
BL 76.26 1.84 10.09 13.23 77.80a 2.54 9.86 74.73a 2.69 10.43
a a
CD 34.83 0.74 4.06 11.65 35.80 1.06 4.12 33.86 1.00 3.88
SC 8.40 0.21 1.19 14.16 8.86a 0.36 1.40 7.93b .180 .700
a a
HEL 17.93 0.31 1.74 9.70 18.06 0.45 1.75 17.80 .450 1.78
PG 33.20 0.69 3.82 11.50 32.93a 2.13 8.28 33.46a 2.11 8.20
a b
NC 33.06 1.20 6.62 20.0 36.26 1.93 7.48 29.86 .920 3.58
Superscripts a and b mean within rows are significantly different (P < 0.05)
SD standard deviation, SE standard error, CV coefficient of variation
S et al. Bulletin of the National Research Centre (2019) 43:17 Page 4 of 6

Table 2 Bivariate correlations among morphological traits and LBW of male (above diagonal) and female (below diagonal) Shami goats
Traits LBW HG WH BL CD SC HEL PG NC
LBW – 0.979b 0.940b 0.905b 0.764b 0.922b 0.854b 0.854b 0.961b
HG 0.830 b
– 0.969 b
0.871 b
0.731 b
0.923 b
0.779 b
0.879b
0.915b
WH 0.796b 0.761b – 0.821b 0.593a 0.899b 0.699b 0.785b 0.853b
BL 0.947 b
0.774 b
0.805 b
– 0.792 b
0.831 b
0.915 b
0.860b
0.887b
CD 0.715b 0.718b 0.799b 0.729b – 0.782b 0.753b 0.721b 0.820b
SC 0.776 b
0.482 0.714 b
0.766 b
0.727 b
– 0.786 b
0.727b
0.871b
HEL 0.858b 0.806b 0.637a 0.839b 0.563a 0.559a – 0.742b 0.892b
PG 0.846 b
0.842 b
0.786 b
0.765 b
0.712 b
0.490 0.707 b
– 0.811b
NC 0.692b 0.487 0.674b 0.700b 0.696b 0.733b 0.578a 0.569a –
a
Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (two-tailed)
b
Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (two-tailed)

Discussion morphometric traits ranged from 9.70–20.0%; this

Descriptive analysis of body weight and morphological traits indicates homogeneity between traits under study.
The higher values reported for the morphometric The findings of the present study show that BL is
traits of males compared to females seem in accord- 76.26 cm, HG is 76.43 cm, and WH is 64.96 cm in
ance with earlier reports on goats (Vargas et al., Shami goats. The observations of the current inves-
2007). The results thus obtained in this study are tigation are somewhat different from those of Alsheikh
likely connected with our previous studies. The pre- (2013) who reported that low mean lives in BL, HG,
vious results have shown that the higher live body and WH were 57.21, 31.66, and 41.76, respectively, in
weight of male kids after weaning may be attributed Shami does of the same environmental condition in
to their birth weight; this is because they were born Sinai, Egypt. Also, our values were higher than that re-
heavier than females in crossbred Boer goats ported by Moaeen-ud-Din et al.(2006) who reported
(Abd-Allah, 2014 and Abd-Allah et al., 2016). Isaac 64.97 cm body length, 70.23 cm height at withers, and
(2005) reported that sexual dimorphism in body size 61.29 cm heart girth, for crossbred goats. The variation
is clearly widespread among many mammalian taxa, in various body measurements in different studies on
with male-biased dimorphism being the more com- the same breed may be due to the difference in the en-
mon, but certainly not the exclusive pattern. It is vironment, size of data set, and other management
important that the coefficient of variation in the practices.

Table 3 Regression equations developed to estimate weight from linear body measurements of Shami goats
Groups Model R R2 Adj. R2 S.E R2 change F change Sig. F change
a
Total 1 0.917 0.841 0.835 4.34079 0.841 147.846 0.000
2 0.961b 0.923 0.918 3.06535 0.083 29.148 0.000
Model summary Regression equations
a. Predictors: (constant), BL LBW = − 200939.582 + 0.970* BL
b. Predictors: (constant), BL, HG LBW = − 46.726 + 0.542* BL + 0.521* HG
Male 1 0.979a 0.958 0.955 2.52153 0.958 294.891 0.000
b
2 0.992 0.984 0.982 1.60140 0.027 20.231 0.001
Model summary Regression equations
a. Predictors: (constant), HG LBW = − 41.864 + .981* HG
b. Predictors: (constant), HG, NC LBW = − 35.829 + 0.611* HG + 0.637* NC
a
Female 1 0.947 0.897 0.889 3.23887 0.897 113.568 0.000
2 0.966b 0.933 0.922 2.72650 0.036 6.345 0.027
Model summary Prediction equations
a. Predictors: (constant), BL LBW = − 32.589 + 0.884* BL
b. Predictors: (constant), BL, PG LBW = − 48.080 + 0.675* BL + 0.347* PG
Superscripts a and b mean within rows are significantly different (P < 0.05)
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed)
S et al. Bulletin of the National Research Centre (2019) 43:17 Page 5 of 6

Table 4 Predicted live body weight (kg) of Shami goats given predictors to assess live weight according to reported that
HG (cm) for male and BL (cm) for female heart girth in males is a good predictor of live weight in
N Male Female Bengal goats. The result is generally in agreement with Taye
HG (cm) ALBW (kg) PLBW (kg) BL (cm) ALBW (kg) PLBW (kg) et al. (2010) who reported that HG is the best predictor of
1 83.00 44.00 39.38 87.00 42.00 44.32 weight. Nevertheless, HG parameter is the easiest way to
2 96.00 53.00 52.31 93.00 50.00 49.62
use for live weight prediction in field conditions.
3 97.00 53.00 53.29 83.00 41.00 40.78
4 72.00 30.00 28.77 85.00 44.00 42.55 Live weight values corresponding to HG and BL measures
for male and female Shami goats
5 75.00 33.00 31.70 70.00 30.00 29.29
The R2 value of 0.96 for the exponential model with HG
6 80.00 33.00 36.54 60.00 22.00 20.45
as the sole finding of this investigation in the study is in
7 82.00 36.00 38.58 60.00 23.00 20.45 close agreement with de Villiers et al. (2009), who used
8 58.00 14.00 15.00 74.00 33.00 32.83 nonlinear regression models on data collected from 1202
9 69.00 23.00 25.83 81.00 41.00 39.00 Boer goats and reported an R2 value of 89.4 for a heart
10 61.00 20.00 17.97 67.00 25.00 26.63 girth-based prediction model. The high correlation values
11 83.00 43.00 39.56 77.00 27.00 35.48
between predicted and actual live body weight measure-
ments give credence to the validity of using these models
12 96.00 52.00 52.31 79.00 41.00 36.75
for predicting live weights of Shami goats. Also, the ob-
13 72.00 30.00 28.77 78.00 40.00 36.36 tained results of this study is in close agreement with de
14 75.00 32.00 31.71 60.00 20.00 20.45 Villiers et al. (2009), who indicted that measurements give
15 82.00 35.00 38.58 67.00 23.00 26.63 credence to the validity of using these models for predict-
ALBW actual live bodyweight, PLBW predicted live body weight, HG heart girth, ing live weights of Swazi goats.
BL body length

Bivariate correlations between body weight and Conclusion

measurements of Shami goats Shami goats is one of the goats’ breeds that can be used
The results are supported by Abdel-Mageed and Ghanem to improve the local breeds of goats genetically by cross-
(2013), who decided that both HG (r = 0.91) and BL ing in Egypt, especially as it is an attractive morpho-
(r = 0.90) presented the highest correlations with LBW logical strain of great potential for milk and fattening
of Shami kids. BL and HG may be used as good reliable compared with other local breeds in Egypt. In the same
predictors to assess live weight according to Bhattacharya way, we may conclude that in order to practice good
et al. (1984) and Islam et al. (1991) reported that heart animal husbandry, the measurement of live body weight
girth in males is a good predictor of live weight in Bengal is totally essential for breeding, nutrition, and health
goats. There was a correlation of LBW with length, height, management. The positive and significant correlation of
and HG in Black Bengal goats (Prasad et al., 1981). Since weight with linear body measurements indicate that lin-
there are high correlation coefficients between live body ear body measurements can be used as a marker to esti-
weight and body measurements, either of these variables mate weight using regression equations. In the current
or combination could provide a good estimate for predict- study, both of the effects of age and location study did
ing live weight in Shami goats. Khan et al. (2006) con- not evaluate, but this area of research in subtropical
cluded that since the body measurements had a high Shami goat needs further studies with increasing the
correlation with the live body weight, this may be used as sample size to clarify the influence of each age and loca-
selection criteria. On the other hand, Ott (1986) recorded tion on the predicting models.
that determination of scrotal length and circumference is
an important aspect of breeding soundness examination Abbreviations
AnGR: Animal genetic resources; BL: Body length; CD: Chest depth;
(BSE) and scrotal circumference has great value as an in- CFM: Concentrate feed mixture; FAO: Food and Agricultural Organization of
dicator of genetic trait, puberty, and total spermatozoa the United Nations; FASS: Federation of Animal Science Societies; HEL: Head
production. length; HG: Heart girth; LBW: Live body weight; NC: Neck circumference;
PG: Paunch girth; SC: Shank circumference; SPSS: Statistical Package for Social
Sciences; WH: Wither height
Prediction of body weight from body measurements
According to the results of this study, the highest correlation Acknowledgements
was determined between LBW and HG in male group. The authors gratefully acknowledge the technical and financial support of
These findings are in harmony with that of Bhattacharya Agricultural Directorate in El-Tor city, South Sinai Governorate, through the
project (Technology Transfer for the Development of Small Ruminant in
et al. (1984) and Islam et al. (1991), who reported that body Southern Sinai) in cooperation with Animal Production Department. National
length and heart girth may be used as good reliable Research Centre.
S et al. Bulletin of the National Research Centre (2019) 43:17 Page 6 of 6

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