<div style="text-align: justify;">Background: Kashmiri (Kashir) goat is nondescript and highly variable, medium sized, goat genetic resource of Kashmir. The goat possessing excellent survivability and is distributed in Kashmir valley. In Jammu and Kashmir, Gujjars and Bakerwals have adopted the sheep and goat rearing as their primary occupation. Body weights at different ages of life cycle of animals are important traits owing to their direct relation with farmers income. 
Methods: Data on body weight and body measurements viz ear length (EL), body length (BL), body height at wither (BH), chest girth (CG) and tail length (TL) of 162 adult Kasmiri (Kashir) nondescript goats, irrespective of gender, were collected from Febuary 2019 to January 2020 to estimate the body weight from body measurements. The data were subjected to standard statistical analysis using SPSS software. Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation was worked out to observe association among traits under study. The linear regression was utilized to predict body weight from linear body measurements. 
Result: The average body weight (BW), ear length (EL), body length (BL), body height at wither (BH), chest girth (CG) and tail length (TL) of 36.94&plusmn;0.99 kg, 13.13&plusmn;0.36 cm, 55.48&plusmn;0.43 cm, 65.93&plusmn;0.62 cm, 69.61&plusmn;0.73 cm and 12.94&plusmn;0.15 cm, respectively were observed for Kashmiri goat in the present study. The body weight was having positive and significant correlations with BL, HW, CG and TL. The correlation of body weight with EL and TL was low. Similarly the correlation of body weight with HW was moderate whereas with BL and CG was significantly high indicating these two traits can define body weight of animal more accurately. Based on R2 (coefficient of determination) criteria, the best regression model for predicting body weight of Kashmiri goat was obtained by using combination of BL (body length) and CG (chest girth) with R2 (coefficient of determination) of 0.795. Prediction equation with R2 value of 0.806 was obtained when all traits were included in regression model where as prediction equation with R2 value of 0.589 was obtained when only chest girth was used as independent variable.</div>

Prediction of Body Weight from Linear Body Measurements in Kashmiri (Kashir) Goat

Majority of the Kargil sheep populations are indigenous. Very scanty information is available for morphological characterization of Purky sheep population. Therefore, the present study was undertaken with the objectives to study the morpho-metric characteristics and body measurements for phenotypic characterization of the local sheep. A stratified random sample survey was conducted on various parameters (horn size, tail size, chest girth, punch girth, body length, height at wither and body weight) in seven different age groups. Data were collected randomly from 510 sheep of either sex. The local sheep population of Kargil which was selected for the present investigation is named as &lsquo;Purky&rsquo; by the name of the community that reared this breed. In Purky sheep white body colour was predominant in both the sexes. The sheep breed was of low to medium body weight. The chest girth, punch girth, height at withers of Purky sheep showed it to be medium sized. Sex had significant effect (P&lt;0.05) on height at wither only. For males the least squares means were higher for all the traits of all age groups baring few exceptions. The phenotypic correlations of age groups with different morpho-metric traits were very high. The phenotypic correlations of &nbsp;body weight with other body measurements like tail size, chest girth, paunch girth, body length and height at wither were very high. Further studies should be carried out to fully exploit their genetic potential and to register the breed and in-situ conservation of this population. 
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Phenotypic characterization of Purky sheep population of Kargil district 
&nbsp;

Background: Statistical analyses have played a fundamental role in the scientific determination of production traits and environmental factors influencing meat productivity. In recent years, machine learning methods have been increasingly explored due to their potential to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of live weight prediction in sheep. 
 
Methods: In this study, the predictive performance of various machine learning algorithms for estimating body weight in Norduz sheep was comparatively evaluated. multilayer perceptron neural networks (MLPNN) and least squares support vector machines (LS-SVM) were employed, with various network configurations and hyperparameter combinations tested. Biometric measurements-namely age, height at withers (HW), body length (BL), chest width behind paddles (CW), chest depth (CD), chest girth (CG) and thigh circumference (TC)-were utilized as input variables, while body weight (BW) served as the target variable. 
 
Result: The MLPNN model configured using the Bayesian Regularization algorithm and the TanSig activation function yielded the lowest error rates and the highest generalization capability. Within the LS-SVM model, the most accurate predictions were obtained using the radial basis function (RBF) kernel, with optimal hyperparameters set at &sigma; = 5 and &gamma; = 10. Among the biometric traits, Chest Girth was identified as the most influential variable for predicting live weight across both models. Furthermore, Age and Height at Withers were found to be critical determinants in the neural network model, whereas Chest Depth and Chest Width were more prominent in the LS-SVM model.

Prediction of Norduz Sheep Live Weight using Multilayer Perceptron Neural Networks and Least Square Support Vector Machines

Background: The current study aims to assess the management techniques, phenotypic variability, morphometric characteristics and performance traits of the Zokel indigenous goat of Mizoram. This documentation is crucial for breed registration and the conservation of the breed via suitable breeding programs.&nbsp; 
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Methods: A comprehensive investigation was conducted, involving a sample of 300 indigenous goats gathered from 64 villages. Goat rearing farmers often rely on natural grazing and locally available forages as the primary nutrition source for their herds. Various physical and biometric traits were recorded at different ages for the phenotypic characterization of the goats. These traits included body weight, body length, chest girth, height at withers, horn length, ear length and tail length, which were measured to assess the overall physical development and variations within the herd. The data were collected following the prescribed format recommended by the ICAR-National Bureau of Animal Genetics Resources, Karnal, for breed characterization. The collected data were then analyzed using the SPSS statistical software. 
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Result: Zokel goats were found to have a small to medium body size (90-95%) and a short stature with a cylindrical body shape. The body colour of Zokel varied in different colors, which included white (45-58%), black (27-33%), brown (6-12%) and a mixed color (7-11%). Foreheads were narrower, straight and somewhat depressed in the middle (92-96%), whereas 2-5 percent had flattened and straight foreheads. Female goats have small horns with black and brown (90-93%), grey (2-6%) and mixed color (1-5%) and a little curve and slight bend at the ends upwards and backwards. Ears were small to moderate in size and oriented horizontally or drooping in a few cases. The average body length, chest girth, height at wither, horn length, ear length and tail length were 57.34&plusmn;0.75 cm, 72.12&plusmn;0.32 cm, 50.80&plusmn;0.51 cm, 8.89&plusmn;1.03 cm, 13.97&plusmn;0.21 cm and 17.78&plusmn;0.11 cm, respectively. The measurements of all morphometric traits were higher than the Assam Hill goats. The reproductive data indicates age at first mating, viz., 225.2&plusmn;8.04 days and higher kidding intervals, i.e., 232.5&plusmn;8.09 days. The results indicated that the Zokel goats showed comparable physical and morphometric traits but significant variations in proportions of these attributes compared to the other goat breeds.

Phenotypic Characterization of Zokel Goat: A Lesser Known Caprine Genetic Resource of Mizoram, India

Background: Understanding the factors that affect calf growth performance can enhance productivity in the cattle industry. This study investigated the effects of breed and sex, the difference between the date of birth and the estimated due date (DBE, gestation length), birth seasons, dam parity and age on body weight at birth and weaning in calves of Korean indigenous cattle breeds. Additionally, the correlation between body weight and body measurements at weaning was assessed. 
 
Methods: A total of 246 calves (Hanwoo, n=136; White Hanwoo, n=42; Chikso, n=41; and Heugu, n=27) born between January 2016 and June 2023 were used in this study. All calves were raised with their dams until weaning. Multiple linear regression (MLR) was employed to evaluate the effects of breed, sex, DBE, birth season, dam parity and dam age on birth and weaning weight. Correlation analysis was conducted to assess the relationship between body weight and body measurements at weaning. 
 
Result: Breed, sex, DBE and birth season significantly affected both birth and weaning weights (p&lt;0.05). Hanwoo calves were the heaviest at birth, followed by Heugu, Chikso and White Hanwoo; at weaning, the order was Hanwoo, White Hanwoo, Chikso and Heugu. Male calves were heavier than females at both stages (p&lt;0.05). Calves born after the estimated due date were heavier at birth and weaning (p&lt;0.05). Calves born in summer had higher birth weights, while those born in winter had higher weaning weights (p&lt;0.05). Dam parity did not affect birth weight (p=0.318) but significantly influenced weaning weight (p=0.028), with higher parity associated with greater weaning weight. Birth weight was a significant predictor of weaning weight (p&lt;0.001). Weaning weight showed strong positive correlations with chest girth (r=0.939), body length (r=0.827), withers height (r=0.816), rump height (r=0.814), pelvic width (r=0.788), rump width (r=0.782), chest width (r=0.752) and chest depth (r=0.714).

Factors Affecting Birth and Weaning Weights in Korean Indigenous Breed Calves

<div>Background: Shuxuan cattle is one newly cultivated dual-purpose breed in Sichuan province, China, by crossing the indigenous Xuanhan cattle with external breeds. Body sizes have been widely regarded as the important breed characteristics in cattle. The current study was aimed to evaluate the body sizes and its molecular inherite marker for futhure herd improvement. 
 
Methods:&nbsp;In the present study, we first investigated a total of 11 body size traits and their overall distribution and pairwise relationships of 169 healthy Shuxuan cattle. Subsequently, the SNP c.A455G of melatonin receptor 1A (MTNR1A) gene were genotyped among 169 Shuxuan cattle and subjected to association analysis with body size traits.&nbsp; 
 
Result:&nbsp;We revealed that adult females have the mean withers height of 113.5 cm, body length of 131.8 cm, chest girth of 157.5 cm and hip height of 104.8 cm, respectively. Among all these traits, the highest correlation was observed in withers height and hip height with spearman&rsquo;s coefficient of 0.85. We found that Shuxuan cattle had an average heterozygosity of 0.5008 and polymorphism information content of 0.3747. Accordingly to the very stringent criterion of Bonferroni multiple adjustments, only chest width was associated with different genotypes of this candidate SNP (P&lt;0.05). The results provide an overall profile of the morphological and growth characteristics in Shuxuan cattle.</div>

​Body Size Traits and Association with the Genetic Polymorphism of Melatonin Receptor 1A (MTNR1A) Gene in Shuxuan Cattle

A study was undertaken to assess the type and function of Ganjam goats native to coastal Odisha based on morphometric traits and their indices. Different flooring systems, viz. conventional earthen flooring (CEF), bamboo-slatted flooring (BSF) and plastic-slatted flooring (PSF) were applied for rearing the growing goats in multilocation trials involving 54 kids (~4 months age) of either sex in equal ratio. The goat kids were equally distributed i.e. eighteen in each group (6 animals &times; 3 locations) and reared on free range system followed by in-house sheltering at night after the browsing hours on these three floor types. The body weight (BW) and morphometric parameters like, body length (BL), withers height (WH), chest girth (CG), paunch girth (PG), rump height (RH) and their indices were assessed fortnightly. Kids reared on all the three floor-types exhibited age-dependent increase in BW and in all the morphometric parameters. There was improved performance (BW, BL, WH, CG) of kids on PSF compared to CEF, while the difference between BSF and PSF was non-significant. The functional indices characterized Ganjam goats as longiline with good proportionality, medium thoracic development, prolific and dual type. The correlation between BW and morphometric parameters exhibited highest for CG followed by WH, RH, BL and PG. The BW of Ganjam goats can suitably be predicted from CG, WH and RH with R2 value 0.914. The importance of morphometric parameters and their indices classify Ganjam goats as a promising dual-purpose breed and impetus to its performance is better achieved with improved shelter management involving plastic-slatted floor in coastal Odisha.

Morphometric Traits and Body Indices to Assess the Type and Function of Native Ganjam Goats Reared on Different Flooring Systems in Coastal Odisha

<div>Background: The principal component analysis is applied to identify minimum number of combined variables that account for maximum portion of the variance existing in all variables studied. Chitarangi is a lesser known carpet type wool sheep distributed in Fazilka and Muktsar districts of Punjab, Sri Ganganagar district of Rajasthan and the adjoining areas. The information on body biometry is a prerequisite to characterize the lesser known sheep population available in the country. Hence, it is important to describe the body conformation by recording minimum number of biometric traits. 
 
Methods: Body biometry traits of Chitarangi sheep, a lesser known carpet quality wool producing sheep population were studied using Principal Component Analysis. The traits studied were body length (BL), height at wither (HW), chest girth (CG), paunch girth (PG), ear length (EL), face length (FL), face width (FW), tail length (TL) and adult body weight (BW). The data were collected on 297 ewes in the breeding tract of Chitarangi sheep. The descriptive statistics were determined for all the traits. The phenotypic correlations between different body biometric traits were estimated using partial correlations. Principal components were estimated using correlation matrix. Principal component analysis (PCA), a multivariate approach, is used when the recorded traits are highly correlated. Rotation of principal components was through the transformation of the components to approximate a simple structure. Factor analysis using oblique (promax) rotation was used. All the analysis was carried out using the SPSS statistical package. 
 
Result: The averages for body weight and biometry traits confirmed large size of Chitarangi animals. Most of the phenotypic correlations amongst the studied traits were positive and significant (p&lt;0.01). The three components extracted from nine principal components accounted for 69.06% of the total variance. The first component, which described body size of ewes, accounted for 43.68% of the total variation with high loading for BW, CG, PG, HW, BL and FL. The components two and three explained 13.54 and 11.83% of total variance, respectively. The communalities ranged from 0.490 (FL) to 0.888 (PG). The lower communalities for face length indicated lower contribution of the trait to explain the total variation than others. The study indicates that principal components provided a means of reduction in number of biometric traits to explain body confirmation of adult female Chitarangi sheep.</div>

Study of Body Conformation of Carpet Wool Type Chitarangi Sheep of India using Principal Component Analysis

<div style="text-align: justify;">A study was conducted in the breeding tract of Red Kandhari cattle in Marathwada region comprising Latur, Parbhani and Nanded district to document the morphometric characteristic to know the present status of the breed. Total 535young Red Kandhari cattle were selected morphometric measurements were recorded by using measuring tape while physical characteristic were recorded visually.The overall LSQ means at 0-3 months of Red Kandhari for chest girth, abdominal girth, body length, height at wither, height at elbow, height at hip bone, height at pin bone, &nbsp;length of ear, width of ear, length of face, width of fore head, length of neck, width between hook bone, width between pin bone, tail length and body weight were &nbsp;70.56 &plusmn; 0.66, 72.27 &plusmn; 0.78, 64.06 &plusmn; 0.69, 69.00 &plusmn; 0.63, 42.93 &plusmn; 0.37, 69.44 &plusmn; 0.66, 65.13 &plusmn; 0.63, 13.66 &plusmn; 0.21, 7.54 &plusmn; 0.07, 23.21 &plusmn; 0.32, 11.25 &plusmn; 0.18, 25.02 &plusmn; 0.26 , 15.71 &plusmn; 0.16 , 9.08 &plusmn; 0.15, 41.66 &plusmn; 0.44 cm and 30.06 &plusmn; 0.83 kg and at 4-12 months of &nbsp;age were 116.21 &plusmn; 0.73, 122.86 &plusmn; 0.77, 99.89 &plusmn; 0.51, 102.32 &plusmn; 0.43, 60.49 &plusmn; 0.59, 103.71 &plusmn; 0.44, 97.51 &plusmn; 0.38, 18.38 &plusmn; 0.16, 10.28 &plusmn; 0.24, 35.55 &plusmn; 0.24, 18.11 &plusmn; 0.08, 38.50 &plusmn; 0.13, 26.43 &plusmn; 0.22, 14.83 &plusmn; 0.18, 60.90 &plusmn; 0.39 cm and 127.93 &plusmn; 2.42 kg, respectively. Majority of the Red Kandhari cattle have Brick Red coat color followed by Dark Red. The sex showed highly significant (P&lt;0.01) to significant (P&lt;0.05) effect on most of the traits for both the age group whereas district doesn&rsquo;t play any major role on these traits.The significant to highly significant effect of sex on some of body measurements and non-significant effect of district in all traits may lead to the concrete conclusion that these factors play a major role in exhibiting the specific body measurements only in Red Kandhari cattle at 4-12 and 0-3 months of age.</div>

Physical and morphometric characterization of young Red Kandhari cattle in their breeding tract

<div>Background: In the present study, a set of non-linear prediction equation was developed using records of body measurement traits, namely heart girth, punch girth, height at shoulder, height at back, height at fore leg, height at back leg and body length of pigs. Repeated measurement of traits at birth, 15 d, 30 d and weaning (42 d) of 394 piglets were used.&nbsp; 
 
Methods: The regression of body weight on body measurement traits showed non-linear relationship based on equation, Y = aXb. Correlation of heart girth with body weight (r2 = 0.968 for male and 0.969 for females; P&lt;0.01) was highest among the traits studied.&nbsp; 
 
Result: Heart girth was found to be most suited among the traits to predict body weight in an exponential equation, Y = 0.00058 H2.49 and Y = 0.00061 H2.47 for male and females, respectively, explaining 96 percent of variation.&nbsp;</div>