Weight determination in local domestic and wildlife animals using external body measurements
2003
Valdez, C.A. (Philippines Univ. Los Banos, College, Laguna (Philippines). Dept. of Veterinary Clinical Sciences)
Weight in animals is usually determined to compare growth rate, assess market value, calculate drug dosages and as an index to health. A weighing scale is most often used to determine weight. In the absence of a weighing scale, however, weight is determined by visual observation which, in most cases, is inaccurate. A reliable alternative method of weight prediction was therefore investigated. Apparently healthy animals of different species (goat, sheep, buffalo, cattle, horse, monkey and deer), ages, sexes and breeds were weighed using a weighing scale, and measurement of some external body parameters were taken with the animals standing in a normal position. The data collected were then subjected to correlation and regression analysis. Certain body measurements were found to be highly correlated to body weight but some were not. Heart girth appeared to be the best single prediction of body weight in all the animal species studied except for the deer where midreff girth was the best single weight predictor. It was observed that the use of more than one variable increased the accuracy of weight prediction and, therefore, should be considered in any weight determination study. Regardless of age, sex and breed, the regression equations obtained in this work could be used to estimate with fair accuracy the weight of some local domestic and wildlife animals in the absence of weighing scale
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