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: The association between live body weight and morphometric traits plays a major role in the daily management and improvement of poultry. The objective of the current study was to determine the association between morphometric features and live body weight, as well as to investigate the direct and indirect effects of morphometric traits on White Leghorn laying hens' live body weight. Live body weight (BW) and morphometric traits including shank circumference (SC), body length (BL), wing length (WL), shank length (SL), toe to back length (TBL), beak length (BKL), beak to comb length (BCL), height (CH) and chest girth (CG) were collected from one hundred (n = 100) White Leghorn laying hens aged 40 weeks. The correlation findings showed that BW was positively correlated to SL, WL, SC, BL, and CH (p < 0.05). The Path analysis results reported that BL (0.45) had the highest direct effect on BW while WL (0.14) had the highest indirect effect on BW via BL. Correlation results propose that improvement of BL, SL, SC, CG and CH might increase the BW of White Leghorn hens. Path analysis results on the other hand, imply that BL and SC may be used as selection basis during breeding to improve BW in chickens. This study suggests that BW of White Leghorn is correlated with some morphometric traits that might be used during breeding. The findings also suggest that body length directly influence the live body weight of White Leghorn chicken breed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The study was conducted in Sekhukhune District of the Limpopo province, South Africa where the goats between the ages of 20 and 30 months were used. A total of 613 indigenous goats of both sexes (62 male and 551 female) were selected and body weight and four morphological traits were taken on each goat in the morning before they were released for grazing. Means, standard deviations (SD) and coefficients of variation (CV) were calculated. Pair wise correlations among body weight and morphological traits were also determined which ranged from 0.81-0.91 for male and 0.72-0.89 for female goats, respectively and were statistically significant (P<0.01). The direct effect of heart girth on body weight was strongest in both sexes (path coefficient of 0.58 and 0.62 in males and females, respectively). Body length in males and body length and hip height in females also positively (P<0.05) influenced body weight. The direct effects of other linear type traits on body weight in both sexes were non-significant. The forecast indices obtained in this study could aid in weight estimation, selection and breeding programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]