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Background. The live weight (LW) and morphometric variables of sheep are useful characteristics to generate adequate criteria for genetic improvement and conservation of Creole animal resources. Objective. To establish morphological relationships and through them predict LW of females and males in Creole sheep of the Oaxacan Mixteca, Mexico. Methodology. LW, thoracic perimeter (TP), height at withers (HW), back length (BL), cane perimeter (CP), head length (HL), neck length (NL), abdominal perimeter (AP) and rump width (RW) were recorded in 720 Creole sheep in 24 production units, measured in animals of both sexes. First, they were analyzed using general linear model procedures to determine the effect of sex on the variables of interest, and then, they were analyzed using discriminant analysis. Simple correlations between morphometric variables were calculated and step-by-step multiple linear regression equations were generated to predict LW. Results. Differences were found between sexes for LW and morphometric measures, which were correlated (p ≤ 0.05). The variables TP, AP and BL had the highest correlations (0.92, 0.90 and 0.89, respectively) and the variables CP, NL and RW, the lowest (0.75, 0.82 and 0.83, respectively). The statistical models explained a large proportion of the total variability (R2 from 85 to 91 %). According to sex, males had R2 (0.90 to 0.94) higher than females (0.83 to 0.89). In both cases TP and HW were the most important characteristics for predicting LW. Conclusions. Under the conditions of this work, the model that included TP and HW was the one that best predicted the LW of the Creole sheep of the Oaxacan Mixteca. It is recommended to use different equations for each sex and training of sheep producers in the use of those equations.

Background. Growth curves allow to predict the mature weight, the grow rate unto maturity, as well as the age and weight at inflexion point, to improve management on productive animals. Objective. To identify the best non-linear model (NLM), which best describe the growth curve of Creole sheep from the Mixteca region of Oaxaca, Mexico. Material and methods. The live weights of 720 sheep (438 females and 239 males) between 1 and 60 months of age were used. The NLM evaluated were: Logistic, Gompertz, Michaelis-Menten, Weibull and Mechanist. Analyzes were performed with SAS JMP software. The criteria used to select the best model were the corrected Akaike information criterion (AICc), Bayesian (BIC) and coefficient of determination (R2). Results. For females, the Mechanist and Weibull models adjusted better de data (lowest AICc, BIC), but not being differences with the Michaelis-Menten and Gompertz. For males the lowest AICc, BIC and the highest R2 (0.84) values were for the Logistic, Gompertz and Mechanist models. Implications. The knowledge of the parameters of the growth curves of the creole sheep of the Mixteca region could be used for taking better decisions on the management of this type of sheep. Conclusion. According to the models, the inflection point of the growth curves was reached at a young age and a lower body weight in females than in males; therefore, different models should be used to study the growth kinetics between sexes.