Abstract:
To explore the growth patterns of Multiparous fine wool sheep, 239 adult Multiparous fine wool sheep were taken as the research subjects, and seven growth traits including body weight(Y), body height(X
1), body length(X
2), chest girth(X
3), head length(X
4), chest width(X
5), and cannon bone circumference(X
6) were detected. SPSS 26.0 software was used to conduct correlation, path, and regression analysis between body weight and the six body measurement indices to establish the optimal regression equation for body weight and body measurements. The results showed that the coefficients of variation for the body weight and size indicators in multiparous fine wool sheep from large to small were body weight(19.76%)> chest width(11.69%) > chest girth(9.66%) > cannon bone circumference(8.40%) > body length(7.30%) > body height(6.59%) > head length(5.89%). All body measurement indicators showed a highly significantly positive correlation with body weight(P<0.01), and the correlation coefficient between chest circumference and body weight was the largest(0.809). The direct effect of chest circumference on the body weight of Multiparous fine wool ewes was the largest, but the direct effect of other body size indexes on body weight was smaller than the indirect effect except for chest circumference. The optimal regression equation of body size indexes to body weight in Multiparous fine wool ewes was Y=-60.292+0.387X
2+0.689X
3+0.579X
5(R~2=0.702, F=188.188, P<0.01). The results indicated that the selection of body length, chest circumference and chest width should be improved in the selection and breeding of Multiparous fine wool sheep, and the indirect effects of body height, head length, and cannon bone circumference on body weight should also be considered.