Growth Traits as Predictors of Body Weight in Sheep: A Review

Abstract

The sheep production industry affects most rural areas and communal farm enterprises in the tropics and sub-tropics as a source of income. The motivation behind the present literature review was to provide detailed literature from various sources on the estimation of body weight from the growth traits of sheep. The review was conducted to highlight the importance of body weight and the significance of growth traits (heart girth, withers height, body length, sternum height, and rump height) as parameters to predict body weight. The main reason for livestock practice is to ensure food security. Therefore, it is important to assess economic traits and determine the carcass merit of sheep. Linear body measurement is a practical, fast, easy, and cheap method broadly utilized in national breeding programs to predict body weight and improve meat productivity in rural areas. The current review indicated that growth traits could be used to predict the body weight of sheep since they importantly provide necessary information about the morphological structure and potential development of the animals.