157 American Academic Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences ISSN (Print) 2313-4410, ISSN (Online) 2313-4402 http://asrjetsjournal.org/ Morphological Characteristics of the Indigenous West African Dwarf Goat in the Four Agro-Ecological Zones in Sierra Leone Abdul Rahman Sesay a , Sanpha Kallon b , Victor Patrick Bagla c , Juliana Nyanda Squire d a Doctor in Animal Breeding and Genetics, South China Agriculture University b Doctor in Animal Nutrition and Feed Science, South China Agriculture University c Doctor in Veterinary Science, Pretoria South Africa, Masters in Nutrition and Dietitics, Njala University Sierra Leone a,b,c,d Njala University, PMB, Freetown, Sierra Leone West Africa a Email: arsesay@njala.edu.sl, Tel: +23276411208 b Email: skallon@njala.edu.sl, Tel: +23276416718 c Email: victor.bagla@njala.edu.sl, Tel: +23276878674 d Email: julissquire@njala.edu.sl, Tel: +23278886639 Abstract Data collected from 230 West African Dwarf (WAD) goats in four agro-ecological zones in Sierra Leone. They consist of 110 males and 120 females classified into five age groups as follows: Kids (below one year), Yearling (1 – 2 years), Young adult (2 – 3 years), Adults (3 – 4 years), Mature (4 - 5 years), and Old (over 5 years). Predefined Adapt Map protocol used to determine the collection of body measurements for Chest (Heart) girth (CG), Height (HW), Body Length (BL), Width of pin bones (PB), Width of points of shoulder bones (SB), Ear length, Horn length and Scrotal circumference using a measuring tape. Body weight measurements obtained using digital hanging scale. Coat color data obtained by visual observation. The data analyzed using Variance Model (ANOVA) procedures of Statistical Analysis System (SAS) version 6.12 Software and post hoc mean separation done using Duncan Multiple Range Test (DMRT). In conclusion, indigenous WAD goats show little morphological variation across agro-ecological zones. Minor variations occur between male and female goats in their respective age groups. Body weights can be predicted from both body length and hearth girths. Therefore urgent need is required to select, multiply and distribute high performing males to many communities nationwide identified with high levels of inbreeding. Keywords: WAD goats; Agro-ecological zones; Morphological traits. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ * Corresponding author. http://asrjetsjournal.org/ American Academic Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) (2022) Volume 88, No1, pp 157-171 158 1. Introduction Unlike many countries in the West Africa sub-region, there is limited available data on animal genetic resources in Sierra Leone which is often quite old dating back to the 1960s and 70s. A lot of changes have taken place since then in terms of agro-ecology and management system. The WAD goat is the only indigenous goat breed in Sierra Leone and until recently there has been an increase in crossbreeding of the WAD goat with other breeds obtained from the sub region and beyond. West African dwarf goat are hardy, small, early maturing, prolific, non-seasonal breeder [1] and plump, measuring less than 50cm in height and weighing between 20 – 25 kg [2] and they are trypanosome tolerant. West African dwarf goats possess the widest margin for adaptation amongst the ruminants[3] and have quite specific physiological properties that have made them acclimatize in the tropics easily. Their coat colour may vary from white, brown, black and sometimes various combinations of these colours. There could be presence or absence of wattle or beard in the breed. Majority of the studies on the West African dwarf goats were conducted in herds maintained at research stations [4]. Even though the extensive system of husbandry is the commonest type, little effort has been made in a way of characterizing and determining the adaptive and productive potential of these West African dwarf goats under the system. Characterizing the indigenous goats phenotypically is one of the cheapest, indirect and alternative ways of improving their productivity [5]. phenotypic characterization of AnGR is the process of identifying distinct breed populations and describing their external and production characteristics in a given environment and under given management, taking into account the social and economic factors that affect them [6]. The objective of this study is to update information on the morphological characteristics of the indigenous WAD goat in the four agro-ecological zones in Sierra Leone. 2. Methodology A sample survey was conducted in order to collect primary data from the indigenous goat population (WAD goats) in the four agro-ecological zones in Sierra Leone: Coastal plains (CP); Savanna Woodland (SW); Transitional rainforest (TRF) and Rainforest (RF) in Sierra Leone. A predefined Adapt Map protocol was used to determine the collection of body measurements for Chest (Heart) girth (CG), Height (HW), Body Length (BL), Width of pin bones (PB), Width of points of shoulder bones (SB), Ear length, Horn length and Scrotal circumference using a measuring tape. Body weight measurements were obtained using a digital hanging scale. Coat color data was obtained by visual observation. A total of 230 goats were sampled consisting of 110 males and 120 females classified into five age groups such as Kids (below one year), Yearling (1 – 2 years), Young adult (2 – 3 years), Adults (3 – 4 years), Mature (4 - 5 years), and Old (over 5 years) [7]. American Academic Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) (2022) Volume 88, No1, pp 157-171 159 Coat color distribution and the mean body length was measured and recorded. Correlation coefficients (r) between live weight and other body measurement traits were found The data collected were analyzed with Analysis of Variance Model (ANOVA) procedures of the Statistical Analysis System (SAS) version 6.12 Software. Descriptive summary statistics were calculated and post hoc mean separation done using the Duncan Multiple Range Test (DMRT). Pearson correlation coefficient (r) values for the goat populations across the four ecological zones were also computed using same software to assess the relationship between body measurement traits. Finally, regression analyses were carried out to predict body weights of the goat populations from the various traits measured. 3. Results and discussion 3.1 Morphological characterization 3.2 Coat color The most frequent coat color was plain black, followed by brown with black spots, plain brown and finally white with spots (Figure 1). The results show the same pattern with respect to coat color between and within these indigenous goat sampled. Similar coat pattern and color were also reported by other researchers in Africa[8, 9,] The color black is reported to have superior adaption to seasonal cold weather or cold nights as the black pigment helps them to warm up earlier than goats with other coat colors[10]. Figure 1: Coat color of goats sampled from the various agro-ecological zones 3.3. Body weight American Academic Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) (2022) Volume 88, No1, pp 157-171 160 Average body weight of goats under 1 year and the yearling (between 1 to 2 years) varied significantly (P < 0.05) among the male goat populations. The less than 1 year male kid goat (7.56 kg) and yearling (17.78kg) in the woodland savanna were significantly heavier than those from the other three agro-ecological zones (Table 1). There were also significant differences in female under 1 year kid goats, young adults (2 to 3 years) and mature adults (4 to 5 years). For the female under 1 year, kid goats from the woodland savanna were heavier (8.32kg) as compared to those from the other three zones. With respect to the young female adults (2 to 3 years), although goats from transitional zone were heavier (19.1Kg), but there was no significant difference in weight with those from the woodland savanna (17.80kg) (Table 1). Similarly, although mature goats from the forest zone were heavier (31.40Kg), but the differences in weight were not significant in matures goats from the coastal plains in Adonkia, Western area (31.08Kg). Overall mean weights increased with the age of the sampled goats. Table 1: Descriptive statistics for live body weight measurements for indigenous WAD goats Variables Goat ecotypes Sex Age (yr) AEZ1: Coastal plains (Adonkia Peninsular) AEZ2: Woodland savanna (Makeni) AEZ3: Transitional zone (Bonthe) AEZ4: Forest zone (Kenema) P Overall Mean Body weight (kg) Male Kid: under 1 5.40 b 7.56 a 5.42 b 5.66 b 0.0001 6.01 Yearly :1- 2 16.40 ab 17.78 a 15.40 b 16.54 ab 0.0531 16.53 Young adult:2-3 18.52 a 20.04 a 18.10 a 18.12 a 0.1622 18.70 Adult:3-4 20.14 a 25.8 a 26.7 a 23.28 a 0.2067 23.98 Mature:4- 5 26.82 a 27.72 a 27.58 a 29.28 a 0.4875 27.85 Old: over 5 31.6 a - - 31.02 a 0.7810 31.31 Female Kid: under 1 5.12 b 8.32 a 5.16 b 5.44 b 0.0019 6.01 Yearly :1- 2 14.96 ab 17.00 a 14.86 ab 14.30 b 0.1183 15.28 Young adult:2-3 15.54 b 17.80 ab 19.18 a 15.48 b 0.0099 17.00 Adult:3-4 25.44 a 26.12 a 25.52 a 25.88 a 0.9402 25.74 Mature:4- 5 31.08 a 27.40 b 24.06 c 31.40 a 0.0006 28.51 Old: over 5 28.56 a 29.40 a 28.08 a 29.34 a 0.7723 28.85 Adult:3-4 10.00 a 10.40 a 10.60 a 10.80 a 0.6515 10.45 Mature:4- 5 10.00 b 11.60 a 9.80 b 9.80 b 0.0607 10.30 Old: over 5 10.80 a 11.80 a 11.40 a 11.00 a 0.1935 11.00 Means in the same row followed by the identical superscript are not significantly different from each other at 0.05 (DMRT) American Academic Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) (2022) Volume 88, No1, pp 157-171 161 3.4. Ear length Ear lengths were not significantly different across the age categories among male goats. However, in female goats, there were significant (P = 0.0001) differences in ear length in kid goats under 1 year, with ear length being significantly longer (7.80 cm) in goats found in the woodland savanna (Table 2). Average ear length of yearling varied significantly (P = 0.0396) among the female goat populations. Although ear length of yearling in the woodland savanna was significantly longer (9.80cm) comparatively, it was not significantly different from goats in the coastal plains (9.60cm) or from goats in the forest zone (Table 2). Table 2: Descriptive statistics for ear length measurements for indigenous WAD goats Variables Goat ecotypes Sex Age (yr) AEZ1: Coastal plains AEZ2: Woodland savanna AEZ3: Transitional zone AEZ4: Forest zone P Overall Mean Ear length (cm) Male Kid: under 1 5.20 a 5.60 a 5.40 a 5.60 a 0.8578 5.45 Yearly :1-2 5.80 b 10.00 a 7.60 ab 9.40 a 0.0692 8.20 Young adult:2-3 9.40 a 10.40 a 10.60 a 9.40 a 0.1871 9.95 Adult:3-4 9.60 a 10.60 a 10.20 a 9.20 a 0.1704 9.90 Mature:4-5 10.20 a 10.80 a 10.40 a 10.80 a 0.5790 10.55 Old: over 5 11.60 a - - 11.80 a 0.4502 11.70 Female Kid: under 1 5.40 b 7.80 a 5.00 b 5.40 b 0.0001 5.9 Yearly :1-2 9.60 a 9.80 a 8.00 b 9.40 a 0.0396 9.2 Young adult:2-3 10.00 a 10.80 a 10.40 a 9.60 a 0.2048 10.2 Adult:3-4 10.00 a 10.40 a 10.60 a 10.80 a 0.6515 10.45 Mature:4-5 10.00 b 11.60 a 9.80 b 9.80 b 0.0607 10.30 Old: over 5 10.80 a 11.80 a 11.40 a 11.00 a 0.1935 11.00 Means in the same row followed by the identical superscript are not significantly different from each other at 0.05 (DMRT) American Academic Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) (2022) Volume 88, No1, pp 157-171 162 3.5. Horn length Similar to ear length, differences in horn lengths were not significantly different across the age categories among male goats. However, in female goats, there were significant (P = 0.0090) differences in ear length in kid goats under 1 year, with ear length being significantly longer (5.40 cm) in goats found in the transitional zone (Table 3). Average horn length of young adults between 2 to 3 years varied significantly (P = 0.0022) among the female goat populations. Horn lengths were significantly longer (9.80cm) in goats from the woodland savanna, but not significantly different from the horn length in goats in transitional zone (9.40cm) (Table 3). Table 3: Descriptive statistics for horn length measurements for indigenous WAD goats Variables Goat ecotypes Sex Age (yr) AEZ1: Coastal plains (Adonkia Peninsular) AEZ2: Woodland savanna (Makeni) AEZ3: Transitional zone (Bonthe) AEZ4: Forest zone (Kenema) P Overall Mean Horn length (cm) Male Kid: under 1 4.20 a 4.80 a 4.60 a 4.00 a 0.2761 4.4 Yearly :1- 2 8.40 ab 9.20 a 7.60 b 9.00 a 0.0756 8.55 Young adult:2-3 8.00 b 10.20 a 8.20 ab 9.00 ab 0.1080 8.85 Adult:3-4 10.60 a 9.60 a 8.80 a 9.60 a 0.5514 9.50 Mature:4- 5 10.60 a 11.20 a 11.20 a 10.60 a 0.6472 10.90 Old: over 5 11.60 a - - 11.80 a 0.4810 11.90 Female Kid: under 1 3.80 b 3.40 b 5.40 a 4.20 b 0.0090 4.2 Yearly :1- 2 7.40 a 8.40 a 8.40 a 8.20 a 0.7678 8.1 Young adult:2-3 7.00 b 9.40 a 9.80 a 7.00 b 0.0022 8.3 Adult:3-4 10.40 a 10.60 a 10.00 a 10.40 a 07639 10.35 Mature:4- 5 11.20 a 11.40 a 9.60 b 11.00 ab 0.0815 10.80 Old: over 5 10.80 ab 11.80 a 10.00 b 11.60 a 0.0736 11.05 Means in the same row followed by the identical superscript are not significantly different from each other at 0.05 (DMRT) 3.6. Height at Withers There were also significant (p < 0.05) variations in linear body measurements among the goat populations: goat in the transitional zone, with an average height of 53.40 cm (adult), 56.40 cm (mature adult) at withers in males was significantly taller than all goats from the other agro-ecological zones, while female goats from the same agro-ecological zone stated above were the tallest with 53.40 cm (adult) and 57.40cm (mature) height at withers (Table 4). Body size is a suitable criterion for classification since it gives clues to potential performance. American Academic Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) (2022) Volume 88, No1, pp 157-171 163 Tropical goats are classified based on body size: large (>65 cm at the withers), small (51 to 65 cm) and dwarf (<50 cm) [11]. Table 4: Descriptive statistics for height at withers measurements for indigenous WAD goats Variables Goat ecotypes Sex Age (yr) AEZ1: Coastal plains (Adonkia Peninsular ) AEZ2: Woodland savanna (Makeni) AEZ3: Transitional zone (Bonthe) AEZ4: Forest zone (Kenema) P Overall Mean Kid: under 1 40.20 a 36.20 a 39.00 a 39.20 a 0.2594 38.65 Yearly :1-2 47.40 a 45.40 a 50.00 a 47.20 a 0.1929 47.50 Young adult:2-3 47.20 a 49.80 a 48.00 a 46.20 a 0.4952 47.80 Adult:3-4 47.00 b 48.00 b 53.40 a 48.20 b 0.0214 49.15 Mature:4-5 50.00 bc 52.40 b 56.40 a 49.40 c 0.0005 52.05 Old: over 5 - - 0.4502 48.80 Female Kid: under 1 39.20 a 39.80 a 38.60 a 38.60 a 0.7399 39.05 Yearling :1-2 46.60 a 50.00 a 50.00 a 47.20 a 0.3830 48.45 Young adult:2-3 49.00 a 54.20 a 47.40 a 47.20 a 0.1312 49.45 Adult:3-4 44.80 b 45.80 b 53.40 a 47.20 b 0.0054 47.80 Mature:4-5 50.20 b 55.40 a 57.40 a 49.60 b 0.0152 53.15 Old: over 5 49.60 c 62.60 a 60.00 b 50.00 c 0.0001 55.55 Means in the same row followed by the identical superscript are not significantly different from each other at 0.05 (DMRT) 3.7. Heart girth The heart girth of male goat from the woodland savanna in northern Sierra Leone was significantly (P = 0.0586) larger in under 1 year kid goat (34.40cm) than those from the other agro-ecological zones, with the exception of goat in the transitional zone (Table 5). The result is also true for young adult and adult male goats. Among the female goat population, there were significant differences in kid goats under 1 years (P = 0.0015), young adults (P = 0.0195) and adults (P = 0.0015). Like the results for the male goats, heart girths in female goats from both the woodland and transitional agro-ecological zones were not significantly different from each other (Table 5). American Academic Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) (2022) Volume 88, No1, pp 157-171 164 Table 5: Descriptive statistics for heart girth measurements for indigenous WAD goats Variables Goat ecotypes Sex Age (yr) AEZ1: Coastal plains (Adonkia Peninsula r) AEZ2: Woodland savanna (Makeni) AEZ3: Transitional zone (Bonthe) AEZ4: Forest zone (Kenema) P Overall Mean Hearth girth (cm) Male Kid: under 1 33.60 ab 34.40 a 34.00 a 31.60 b 0.0586 33.40 Yearly :1-2 58.00 a 61.40 a 60.80 a 56.80 a 0.1890 59.25 Young adult:2-3 49.80 b 59.00 a 58.40 a 50.40 b 0.0283 54.40 Adult:3-4 55.60 b 62.20 a 60.60 ab 55.60 b 0.0476 58.50 Mature:4-5 59.40 a 59.20 a 60.40 a 59.40 a 0.9482 59.60 Old: over 5 48.80 a - - 48.80 a 0.7810 63.70 Female Kid: under 1 37.80 a 38.80a 33.40a 33.20a 0.0015 35.80 Yearly :1-2 54.60 a 58.20a 60.20a 54.40a 0.3330 56.85 Young adult:2-3 54.20 b 62.80a 57.40ab 54.80b 0.0195 57.30 Adult:3-4 57.40 a 59.60a 58.80a 49.00b 0.0015 56.20 Mature:4-5 59.40 a 56.80a 58.40a 58.80a 0.6984 58.35 Old: over 5 61.40 a 57.00b 57.80ab 61.80a 0.0499 59.50 Means in the same row followed by the identical superscript are not significantly different from each other at 0.05 (DMRT) 3.8. Scrotal circumference Table 6: Descriptive statistics for scrotal circumference measurements for indigenous WAD goats Variables Goat ecotypes Sex Age (yr) AEZ1: Coastal plains (Adonkia Peninsular ) AEZ2: Woodlan d savanna (Makeni) AEZ3: Transitiona l zone (Bonthe) AEZ4: Forest zone (Kenema ) P Overal l Mean Scrotal circumferenc e Mal e Kid: under 1 8.40bc 10.20a 9.40ab 7.80c 0.002 5 8.95 Yearly :1-2 17.00a 18.80a 13.60b 17.40a 0.002 4 16.70 Young adult:2-3 19.60a 20.00a 18.40a 19.00a 0.663 6 19.25 Adult:3-4 20.80a 21.80a 20.80a 20.20a 0.321 3 20.90 Mature:4 -5 20.40b 22.60a 21.20ab 21.20ab 0.104 9 21.35 Old: over 5 22.20a - - 21.80a 0.650 2 22.00 American Academic Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) (2022) Volume 88, No1, pp 157-171 165 There were significant differences in scrotal circumference in kid goats (P = 0.0025) and yearling (P = 0.0024); with goats from the woodland savanna having the largest scrotal circumference (10.20cm). In the yearlings, goats from the transitional zone had the smallest scrotal circumference (13.60cm); whilst, no significant differences were observed in the scrotal circumferences of goats from the other agro-ecological zones (Table 6). Means in the same row followed by the identical superscript are not significantly different from each other at 0.05 (DMRT) 3.9. Shoulder point In the male goat population, there were significant differences in shoulder points in adults (P = 0.0441) and mature (P = 0.0001); with goats from the woodland savanna having the widest shoulder points, though not significantly different from the shoulder points of goats from the transitional zone (Table 7). Similar results were also observed in female goats, with significant differences in shoulder points in kids (P = 0.0011), young adults (P = 0.0489), adults (P = 0.0079), mature (P = 0.0001) as well as those over 5 years old (P= 0.0001) (Table 7). Again, goats from the woodland savanna predominate; though not significantly different from female goats from the transitional zone (Table 7). Table 7: Descriptive statistics for shoulder point measurements for indigenous WAD goats Variables Goat ecotypes Sex Age (yr) AEZ1: Coastal plains (Adonkia Peninsular) AEZ2: Woodland savanna (Makeni) AEZ3: Transitional zone (Bonthe) AEZ4: Forest zone (Kenema) P Overall Mean Shoulder point (cm) Male Kid: under 1 7.00a 7.80a 6.60a 7.00a 0.2106 7.10 Yearly :1- 2 13.00a 13.20a 13.80a 13.60a 0.5723 13.40 Young adult:2-3 13.20a 14.20a 12.80a 13.40a 0.2217 13.40 Adult:3-4 12.60c 15.80a 15.20ab 13.20bc 0.0441 14.20 Mature:4- 5 14.60b 20.80a 22.20a 14.80b 0.0001 18.10 Old: over 5 13.40a - - 14.00a 0.7850 13.70 Female Kid: under 1 8.00b 9.40b 6.20c 8.00b 0.0011 7.90 Yearly :1- 2 12.80a 13.40a 13.00a 12.60a 0.6649 12.95 Young adult:2-3 12.80ab 13.40a 13.80a 11.80b 0.0489 12.95 Adult:3-4 11.80b 14.00a 14.00a 11.60b 0.0079 12.85 Mature:4- 5 13.60b 20.80a 22.00a 14.00b 0.0001 17.60 Old: over 5 12.60b 21.40a 20.80a 12.80b 0.0001 16.90 Means in the same row followed by the identical superscript are not significantly different from each other at American Academic Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) (2022) Volume 88, No1, pp 157-171 166 0.05 (DMRT) 3.10. Pin bone width The results for pin bone width are similar to those already reported for the shoulder point. In male goats, there were significant differences in young adults (P = 0.0087) and mature goats (P = 0.0090). In female goat population, significant (P < 0.05) differences were observed in all age categories with the exception of adult aged 3 to 4 years (Table 8). Table 8: Descriptive statistics for pin bone width measurements for indigenous WAD goats Variables Goat ecotypes Sex Age (yr) AEZ1: Coastal plains (Adonkia Peninsular) AEZ2: Woodland savanna (Makeni) AEZ3: Transitional zone (Bonthe) AEZ4: Forest zone (Kenema) P Overall Mean Pin bone width (cm) Male Kid: under 1 12.80ab 13.40a 12.00b 11.80b 0.0786 12.50 Yearly :1- 2 15.20a 16.20a 16.40a 15.60a 0.4147 15.85 Young adult:2-3 18.80a 18.20a 16.00b 18.20a 0.0087 17.80 Adult:3-4 19.80a 19.80a 18.40a 19.40a 0.2589 19.35 Mature:4- 5 20.60b 21.40b 24.20a 20.40b 0.0090 21.65 Old: over 5 20.20a - - 20.00a 0.2513 20.10 Female Kid: under 1 13.00b 15.00a 12.00b 11.80b 0.0034 12.95 Yearly :1- 2 19.20a 19.60a 14.60b 15.80b 0.0001 17.30 Young adult:2-3 19.80a 20.00a 16.80b 19.60b 0.0012 19.05 Adult:3-4 19.20a 18.80a 17.80a 19.20a 0.6234 18.75 Mature:4- 5 19.60b 23.40a 25.00a 20.40b 0.0002 22.10 Old: over 5 18.60b 22.40a 20.80ab 18.60b 0.0065 20.10 Means in the same row followed by the identical superscript are not significantly different from each other at 0.05 (DMRT) 3.11. Body length The body length of male goat from the woodland savanna was significantly different (P = 0.0203) for kid goat (34.80cm) than those from the other agro-ecological zones, with the exception of goat in the transitional zone (Table 9). But for young adults, goats from the transitional zone had a significantly larger body length (56.00cm). Among the female goat population, there were significant differences in kid (P = 0.0057), yearling American Academic Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) (2022) Volume 88, No1, pp 157-171 167 (P = 0.0045), young adults (P = 0.0019) and adults over 5 years (P = 0.0001). Like the results for the male goats, body length in female goats from both the woodland and transitional agro-ecological zones were not significantly different from each other (Table 9). The results of the body length and body weight seems to correspond with each other, and it had been reported that heart girth and live body weight show that the body weight of goats can be predicted from heart girth measurements of goats, which is in agreement with other findings[12,13,14] (Sowande and his colleagues 2010; Cam and his colleagues 2010 Khan H, Muhammed, 2006). Table 9: Descriptive statistics for body length width measurements for indigenous WAD goats Variables Goat ecotypes Sex Age (yr) AEZ1: Coastal plains (Adonkia Peninsular) AEZ2: Woodland savanna (Makeni) AEZ3: Transitional zone (Bonthe) AEZ4: Forest zone (Kenema) P Overall Mean Body length (cm) Male Kid: under 1 31.40ab 34.80a 34.80a 29.00b 0.0203 32.50 Yearly :1- 2 47.60c 52.20b 56.00a 46.00c 0.0001 50.45 Young adult:2-3 47.40a 47.60a 51.40a 47.60a 0.3787 48.50 Adult:3-4 51.60b 50.20b 59.40a 44.20c 0.0002 51.35 Mature:4- 5 54.60ab 53.40b 59.60a 53.20b 0.0882 55.25 Old: over 5 52.00a - - 51.80a 0.4702 51.90 Female Kid: under 1 40.00a 40.60 a 34.00 b 35.80 b 0.0057 37.60 Yearly :1- 2 48.60 b 49.80 b 54.60 a 45.60 b 0.0045 49.65 Young adult:2-3 45.60 b 51.40 a 54.60 a 46.00 b 0.0019 49.40 Adult:3-4 57.00 a 57.00 a 58.20 a 59.60 a 0.3609 57.95 Mature:4- 5 54.20 a 55.40 a 59.00 a 53.40 a 0.1745 55.50 Old: over 5 51.00 c 61.40 a 59.80 a 54.60 b 0.0001 56.70 American Academic Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) (2022) Volume 88, No1, pp 157-171 168 Means in the same row followed by the identical superscript are not significantly different from each other at p < 0.05 (DMRT) 3.12. Relationship between body weight and other body measurements The correlation coefficient analyses were carried out in the present study to figure out and establish the relationship between live body weights with other body measurement traits of goat populations found in Sierra Leone (Table 10). Accordingly, correlation coefficients (r) between live weight and other body measurement traits were found positive with the presence of highly significant (P = 0.0101) association of body weight with body length (r = 0.9899), and a negative non-significant (P = 0.2965) association of body weight with heart girth (r = 0.7035) for male goats. Moreover, a highly non-significant r -values were also obtained for the female goats as indicated in Table 10. The present high correlations between heart girth and live body weight show that the body weight of goats can be predicted from heart girth measurements of goats, which is in agreement with other finds[12,13,15] . Results of the linear regression analyses of body weight with heart girth showed a moderately high relationship between these variables with a coefficient of determination values of R² = 0.783; y = 1.0628x + 32.776 and R² = 0.6548; y = 0.8032x + 37.751 for the male and female goats, respectively (Figure 1). The regression between body weight and body length was also significant at R² = 0.7687; y= 0.7789x + 32.178 and R² = 0.9151; y= 0.797x + 35.008, for male and female goats, respectively (Figure 1). These findings indicate that an increase of one cm of heart girth or body length resulted in an increase of 1.0628 and 0.7789 kg of live weight, respectively, for male goats and similarly, an increase of one cm of heart girth or body length resulted in an increase of 0.8032 and 0.797 kg of live weight, respectively, for female goats. These results are in line with findings on goats elsewhere[16,17,]. The high and significant correlation coefficient between body weight with heart girth and body length suggest that either of these variables or their combination would provide a good estimator for predicting live body weight in the various agro-ecological zones of Sierra Leone, especially in areas where weighing scale is not available. Moreover, such relatively high relationship of heart girth with weight could be used as a proxy to estimate live body weight for indigenous goats for countries like Sierra Leone where formal breed data recording schemes are not well established. In general, such assessment of body measurements in goats remains very important for avoiding the errors of visual determination of animal weights in areas where weighing balance cannot be assessed Figure 2 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 0 10 20 30 40 Body length (cm) American Academic Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) (2022) Volume 88, No1, pp 157-171 169 Figure 3 4. Conclusions  Coat color distribution was observed to be solid black (42.48%); brown with spots (28.43%); brown (15.27%) and white with spots (13.81%).  There was no significant difference between male and female goats in all age categories in body length, heart girth, ear length, horn length, scrotal circumference, shoulder point and pin bone width.  The presence of high correlations between body length, heart girth and live body weight shows that the body weight of goats can be predicted from body length and heart girth measurements. Body weights can be reliably predicted from both body length and hearth girths.  In conclusion, the indigenous WAD in Sierra Leone shows little morphological variation across agro- ecological zones.  Minor variations occur between male and female goats in their respective age groups. However, more females than male goats were available especially so for the higher age groups. Male goats are most often slaughtered either for sale of meat or in traditional ceremonies. 5. Recommendation  Goat breeding programme should be urgently established to make breeding bucks available to goat rearing communities. This is to minimize the effect of inbreeding in the goat population in the country. Acknowledgment This work was supported by the Department of Animal Science, School of Agriculture, Njala University. The authors thank the University and the Dean School of Agriculture for providing funds. The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest. y = 1.0628x + 32.776 R² = 0.783 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 0 10 20 30 40 Hearth girth (cm) American Academic Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) (2022) Volume 88, No1, pp 157-171 170 6. Author Contribution Statement Dr. Abdulrahman Sesay, Dr. Sanpha Kallon and Student( Brima Turay) carried out the experiment, analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript : Dr. Abdul Rahman Sesay and Dr. Sanpha Kallon, and Dr. Vector Patrick Bagla designed the study, planned the experiment protocol, supervised the findings of this work and corrected the manuscript; Dr. Sanpha Kallon contributed to the supervision of the findings. All authors discussed the results and contributed to the final manuscript References [1]. Oppong-Anane K, Karbo N, Doku CK, Dittoh JS, Rhule SWA, Bayor H, Ameleke GY, Sottie ET (2008). Ghana’s livestock growth trend. Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Ghana [2].Ozoje, M.O. and O.O. Mgbere. (2002). Coat pigmentation effects in WAD goats: Live weights and body dimensions. Nigerian Journal of Animal Production. 29: 5 – 10. [3]. Oni.OO (2003). Breeds and genetic improvement of small ruminants (sheep and goats). 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