ESTIMATING BODY-WEIGHT FROM MORPHOMETRIC MEASUREMENTS OF SAHEL (BORNOWHITE) GOATS

Fifteen male Sahel goat kids (five each from single, twin and triplet births) were weighed and measurements of height at withers, heart girt h and body length were taken every week for the first six months of li fe, The average weights at birth were 2.7 +/- 0.5 kg, 2.3 +/- 0.2 kg a nd 1.6 +/- 0.4 kg for singles, twins and triplets respectively, while the average weights at six months were 13.7 +/- 0.5 kg, 13.3 +/- 3.4 k g and 12.9 +/- 2.8 kg. There was a good correlation (r(2) = 0.98) betw een body weight and heart girth in all three categories, An equation f or predicting body weight from measurements of heart girth is given fo r each category. For adult Sahel goats, the average yearling weight wa s 24.7 +/- 5.3 kg for males, 21.6 +/- 5.1 kg for non pregnant females and 27.7 +/- 6.4 kg for those with pregnancy over four months. The cor relation between heart girth and body weight in adults was lower than for growing goats (bucks r(2) = 0.96, non pregnant females r(2) = 0.83 and for females in advanced pregnancy r(2) = 0.71). It was concluded that the body weight of Sahel goats can be estimated in the field usin g morphometric measurements taken with a tape.