Path Coefficient Analysis Of Body Weight And Biometric Traits In Ouled-djellal Breed (algeria)

Direct and indirect effects of twelve variables ( neck length (nl), body length (bl), trunk length (trl), pelvis length (pl), hip width (hw), chest size (cs), chest depth (cd), chest width (cw), height at withers (htw), height at sacrum (hs), height at back (hb), side depth (sd) on body weight of 347 Ouled-Djellal ewes were investigated using path analysis. Seven traits were found not to be important; they were deleted from the full model. So, we ended up with a reduced model, with five traits only ( bl, cs, cw, htw, sd). Pairewise correlations between body weight and zoometrical traits ranged from 0.07-0.72. The direct effects of chest size and body length on body weight prediction were the strongest (0.50 and 0.44, respectively). Chest width, side depth was positive and significant, as well. But height at withers was significant but with negative effect. The optimum multiple regression equation included chest size, body length, chest width, height at withers and side depth, with a determination coefficient (R²) of 0.87 and determination coefficient of error of 0.13 These results obtained in this investigation could help in weight estimation, selection and breeding programmes.