Use of body linear measurements to estimate liveweight of crossbred dairy cattle in smallholder farms in Kenya

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cg.authorship.typesCGIAR and advanced research instituteen
cg.contributor.affiliationUniversity of New Englanden
cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Livestock Research Instituteen
cg.contributor.crpLivestock and Fish
cg.coverage.countryKenya
cg.coverage.iso3166-alpha2KE
cg.coverage.regionAfrica
cg.coverage.regionEastern Africa
cg.creator.identifierAlan Duncan: 0000-0002-3954-3067
cg.creator.identifierJohn Gibson: 0000-0003-0371-2401
cg.creator.identifierAlly Okeyo Mwai: 0000-0003-2379-7801
cg.howPublishedFormally Publisheden
cg.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1186/s40064-016-1698-3en
cg.isijournalISI Journalen
cg.issn2193-1801en
cg.issue1en
cg.journalSpringerPlusen
cg.reviewStatusPeer Reviewen
cg.subject.ilriANIMAL BREEDINGen
cg.subject.ilriBREEDSen
cg.subject.ilriCATTLEen
cg.subject.ilriDAIRYINGen
cg.subject.ilriGENETICSen
cg.subject.ilriLIVESTOCKen
cg.volume5en
dc.contributor.authorLukuyu, Margaret N.en
dc.contributor.authorGibson, John P.en
dc.contributor.authorSavage, D.B.en
dc.contributor.authorDuncan, Alan J.en
dc.contributor.authorMujibi, F.D.N.en
dc.contributor.authorOkeyo Mwai, Allyen
dc.date.accessioned2016-12-21T13:08:13Zen
dc.date.available2016-12-21T13:08:13Zen
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/78444
dc.titleUse of body linear measurements to estimate liveweight of crossbred dairy cattle in smallholder farms in Kenyaen
dcterms.abstractBody linear measurements, and specifically heart girth (HG), have been shown to be useful predictors of cattle liveweight. To test the accuracy of body linear measurements for predicting liveweight, crossbred dairy cattle of different genotypes were measured and weighed. A total of 352 mature cows and 100 heifers were weighed using an electronic weighing scale and measurements of HG, body length, height at withers were taken using an ordinary measuring tape and body condition scored (BCS) using a five-point scale. The animals were grouped according to genotype and age. Genotype classification was undertaken from farmer recall and by visual appraisal as 40–60, 61–80 or 81–100 % exotic (non-indigenous). Age classification was simply as mature cows or heifers. Liveweight of the animals ranged from 102 to 433 kg. Liveweight was strongly correlated with HG (r = 0.84) and body condition scores (r = 0.70) and moderately correlated with body length (r = 0.64) and height at withers (0.61). Regressing LW on HG measurements gave statistically significant (P < 0.01) equations with R2 ranging from of 0.53 to 0.78 and residual standard deviation ranging from 18.11 to 40.50 kg. The overall model developed (adjusted R2 = 0.71) had a prediction error of 26 kg (or 11 % of the mean) and predicted LW of over 95 % of crossbred dairy cattle in the range of 100–450 kg, regardless of age and breed group. Including BCS in the model slightly improved the model fit but not the prediction error. It was concluded that the model can be useful in making general management decisions in smallholder farmsen
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Access
dcterms.audienceScientistsen
dcterms.available2016-01-22
dcterms.bibliographicCitationLukuyu, M.N., Gibson, J.P., Savage, D.B., Duncan, A.J., Mujibi, F.D.N. and Okeyo, A.M., 2016. Use of body linear measurements to estimate liveweight of crossbred dairy cattle in smallholder farms in Kenya. SpringerPlus 5:63.en
dcterms.issued2016-12
dcterms.languageen
dcterms.licenseCC-BY-4.0
dcterms.publisherSpringeren
dcterms.subjectlivestocken
dcterms.subjectgeneticsen
dcterms.subjectanimal breedingen
dcterms.typeJournal Article

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