Morphometric characterization and prediction of liveweight of swine at pre-weaning and post-weaning

This research was conducted to characterize the body morphometric and predict the liveweight of Swine at pre- and post-weaning.  Measured parameters include Head width (HeW), Head length (HL), Hip height (HH), Length of snout (LS), Wither height (WH), Body length (BL), Heart girth (HG), Ear length (EL), Hip width (HW), and Liveweight (LW). This was carried out at University of Benin Research and Teaching Farm.  A total of 30 large white x landrace of both sexes were used. Body weight was measured in kilograms (kg) using a digital battery-operated scale and other morphometric measurements were done with a tape rule. Data obtained were subjected to statistical analysis on principal component analysis, regression and descriptive statistics using SPSS software version 19. The highest coefficient of variation was 0.39 for pre-weaned swine and 0.55 for weaned swine (14 weeks). There was also a strong correlation among all the body parts measured with 0.885 being the highest correlation coefficient between pre-weaning head width and weaning hip width while liveweight had a strong correlation with all the measured body parameters. The combination of heart girth, tail length, ear length, hinge length, and wither height were the best model at pre-weaning (R2 = 93.3%). While that of the weaning liveweight prediction model was found from the combination of wither height and length of snout, ear length, hearth girth, body length, wither height, and tail length (R2 = 94.2%). The principal component analysis shows that swine can be best described through their hinge length (0.98) and length of the snout (0.97) and they also have a strong linear relationship. In conclusion, the swine weight can therefore be taken under conditions where scales are not readily available and more accurate results can be achieved at weaning. Selection can also be made using this relationship.