Abstract:
The study was conducted at the Agricultural Technology Transfer Center (ATTC) Korca in
South East area of Albania. Two imported goat breeds, Alpine and Saana not previously
characterized were included in the study. Their characterization is of great importance, and the
information provided is of great value, especially for the ATTC which use these breeds for the
improvement of the local populations by crossbreeding. Morphometric measurements of 50
animals were analyzed. Both breeds have similar values of body measurements. All
morphometric traits were positively correlated, where most of them were statistically significant.
Body weight has the highest positive correlation with CC (0.763), which is statistically
significant. The PCA of all morphometric parameters indicated that the three components
accounted 80.1% of the cumulative variance. The PCA and discriminant analysis indicated
admixture between breeds. A regression analysis was performed to predict the body weight from
morphometric measurements, which indicated that HG and CBC were best fitted to the model
with R2
(adj) values 66.87 and 65.29 respectively. The information obtained could be used by the
ATTC in a near future for the the management, conservation, and for designing the breeding
programes. |
