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dc.contributor.authorSebolai, B.
dc.contributor.authorPodisi, B.K.
dc.contributor.authorNsoso, S.J.
dc.contributor.authorMokhutshwane, B.S.
dc.date.accessioned2017-08-17T09:27:04Z
dc.date.available2017-08-17T09:27:04Z
dc.date.issued2016-01-02
dc.identifier.otherhttp://www.ub.bw/ojs/index.php/bojaas/article/view/248en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10311/1721
dc.description.abstractThis study was conducted to estimate the relationships among body measurements and determine underlying factors describing the body structure of female and male Tswana goats at kid and grower age-groups. Body-weight (BW), body-length (BL), heart-girth (HG), height-at-withers (HW), shoulder-width (SW), neck-length (NL), tail-length (TL) and ear-length (EL) were recorded from 273 female and 278 male kids, 699 female and 281 male growers. Fifteen farmers keeping goats were randomly selected from each district excluding Tsabong and Ghanzi districts and records taken on a random sample of 4-12 animals per farm in 2001. Data were analysed to determine correlations among the variables and factors explaining the variability in the body structure of Tswana goats were extracted. Significant (P<0.05) strong and positive correlations (r=0.81 to 0.89) of BW to BL, HW and HG in male and female kids and male growers were found. There were significant weak to moderate correlations (r=0.21 to 0.51) between BW and SW while in female growers, the correlation between BW and HW was not significant (P>0.05). In female kids general body size factor explained 54% of the variation in body structure. For male kids and growers, general body size and shoulder width factors explained 72.3% and 61.3% of the variation respectively. Neck-length, body shape and shoulder-width factors explained 58.4% of the body variation in female growers. The identified one to three factors (height at withers, heart girth, shoulder width and body length) described the body structure of the Tswana goats and have potential use in selection for improved productivity.en_US
dc.formatapplication/pdfen_US
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherUniversity of Botswana, www.ub.bwen_US
dc.rightsAuthors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms: Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.en_US
dc.sourceBotswana Journal of Agriculture and Applied Sciences; Vo.l 10, No. 1 (2014)en_US
dc.subjectBody structureen_US
dc.subjecteigenvalueen_US
dc.subjectfactor analysisen_US
dc.subjectmeasurementsen_US
dc.subjectgoatsen_US
dc.titleUsing factor analysis to characterise the body structure of male and female indigenous Tswana goat at kid and grower agesen_US


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