EFFECT OF PHYSIOLOGICAL STATUS ON BODY WEIGHT, BODY CONDITION SCORE AND MORPHOMETRIC TRAITS OF YANKASA SHEEP

Abstract

This work was conducted to evaluate the effect of physiological status on body weight, body condition score (BCS) and linear body measurements in Yankasa sheep. The study was carried out in some selected locations of Kano State on rams, pregnant, lactating and dried ewes. The animals were weighed using a measuring scale, the body condition score were assessed based on the scale of 0-5 and linear body measurements were taken using measuring tape. Variation in the traits were analyzed using analysis of variance as contain in SAS 2002, The study revealed significant (P<0.05) variations between the physiological states, pregnant and lactating ewes are significantly heavier than rams and dry ewes. It is concluded that, physiological status exert variations in body weights, BCS and linear body measurements among Yankasa sheep. It is recommended to consider physiological state of sheep during selection especially with respect to breeding ewes selection.