Proceedings of 34th Scientific conference of Tanzanian Society of Animal Production Arusha 2011

Path coefficient model for assessment of weight using linear traits at birth and at weaning in Nigerian indigenous pig
Ogah D. M.*, N. D. Yusuf and M. M. Ari Animal Science Department, College of Agriculture, PMB 33 Lafia, Nasarawa State, Nigeria. *mosesdogah@yahoo.com. Abstract Direct and indirect effects of some explanatory variables ( body length BL, rump height R H, rump length RL , rump width RW , shoulder width SW, wither height WH, heart girth HG and flank length FL) influence on live weight at birth and at weaning in Nigerian indigenous pig managed under semi intensive system were investigated using path analysis. Result of the analysis indicated that the correlation coefficient between body weight and body length at birth was highest (.59) while at weaning rump width had the highest correlation coefficient with body weight(.60) . The relationships were from low to high. The direct effect of linear traits to body weight at birth were highest with wither height and flank length similarly heart girth and rump length had better direct effect on body weight at weaning than other linear traits. The findings show that there are variability in relationship between body weight and linear traits with age, similarly both tissues and bone development play significant role in weight determination in indigenous pigs. Thus selection for weight increase at adult phase can better be achieved at weaning, providing direction for selection towards increase weight in indigenous pigs. Keywords: indigenous pig , path coefficient, selection , birth, weaning. Introduction Nigeria is estimated to have 4.4 million pig and about 78% of these are found in the sub humid zones of Northern and southern guinea savannah(Shaib et al., 1997). Most of the pigs are reared in the extensive system and their productivity have been reported to be low (Okorie 1978). Efforts have been directed towards improving their productivity through selection and cross breeding, Adebambo (1995), but to improve this animal through selection is important because of the inherent advantages associated with their adaptation. Body weight is an important component of breed evaluation and play a significant role in breeding value determination. Many factors are reported to influence body weight in most domestic animals, which include body length ,chest girth etc as reported by Wu et al.(2008) in rabbit. These traits have significant and positive correlation with body weight. Systems of animal can be complex , it can be difficult to isolate causes and effect because each component potentially can influence others through a network of direct and indirect interactions(Smith et al., 1997).A misspecified model therefore can generate a serious bias in the estimation of the coefficient of each independent variable(Jeonhoon, 2002). To address

Proceedings of 34th Scientific conference of Tanzanian Society of Animal Production Arusha 2011

this limitation , path analysis could be more suitable. It provide an effective means for finding ot direct and indirect causal of association and permit a critical examination of the specific forces acting to produce a given correlation. The aim of this study was to estimate body weight at birth and at weaning from biometric traits of indigenous pig from direct and indirect associations using path analysis with a view to produce appropriate selection criterion. Materials and methods
The animals used in this experiment were 52 piglets from ten sows raised semi extensively by native farmers in Lafia , Nasarawa State, Nigeria. The data was generated between April to September 2009. The traits measured include body weight, BWT , body length, BL, rump height, RH, rump length,RL, rump width, RW, shoulder width, SW , wither height, WH, heart girth, HG and flank length FL. The description of the measurement traits were as suggested by measured at birth period and the same traits measured at six period.

Descriptive statistics of the body weight and linear traits of pigs at birth and at weaning were computed. Pairwise correlation among body weight and linear traits were also determined. Standardized partial regression coefficient called path coefficient(Beta weight) were calculated. The process gives direct comparism of values to reflect the relative importance of independent variables to explain variation in the dependent variable. The path coefficient from an explanatory variable(X) to a response variable (Y) as described by Mendes et al. (2005) is shown below Pyx1- b1sx sy Where Pyx1 = pah coefficient for X1 to Y (i= BL , RH, RL,RW,SW,WH,HG and FL) B1 = partilal regression coefficient SX1 = standardized deviation of x1 SY = Standardized deviation of Y The multiple linear regression model adopted was Y= a+b1x1 +b2x2 +b3x3+b4x4+b5x5+b6x6+b7x7+e Where Y= endogenous variable(body weight) a= intercept b= regression coefficients xi=exogenous variable,(BL, RH, RL,RW,SW,WH,HG and FL) e=error term normally distributed with mean zero and variance The indirect effect of x1 on y through xj were calculated as follows IEyxi=

r p
xixj

yxj

Where

Proceedings of 34th Scientific conference of Tanzanian Society of Animal Production Arusha 2011

IEyxi= The direct effect of x1 via xj on y

xixj=

correlation coefficient between ith and jth independent variables. independent(exogenous) variable

pyxj= path coefficient that indicates the direct effect of jth

on the dependent (endogenous) variable.

Results and discussion The basic data of the indigenous pig at birth and at weaning are presented in Table1. The
mean birth weight and weaning weight obtained here are higher than what Ncube et al .(2003) obtained for local pig genotype in Zimbabwe (0.97) and (4.17) but the birth weight in this study is comparable to that of local pigs of Mexico (1.32) as reported by Mota et al 2002 with a superior weaning weight of (9.49). Phenotypic correlations displaying the relationship between body measurements at birth and at weaning are given in Table 2. At birth significant and positive correation with body weigth were found with body length , rump width and rump length .At weaning ,body length , rump width and shoulder width had higher and positive correlation with body weight .Relation between body weight and linear traits were low to moderately high at both age. There seems to variation in nature of relations between body weight and linear traits at birth and at weaning which is consistent with the findings of Cankaya and Kayaalp ,(2007) Cankaya et al. (2008) who reported that live weight change is a frequently recorded variable in animal research and that body measurements such as body length , hearth girth and chest width are reported as important indicators of the live weight in animal growth traits.

Proceedings of 34th Scientific conference of Tanzanian Society of Animal Production Arusha 2011

Table1. Descriptive statistics of body weight and linear traits of the indigenous pig at birth and at weaning Trait Body weight Age Birth Weaning Body length Birth Weaning Rump height birth Weaning Rump length Birth Weaning Rump width Birth Weaning Shoulder width Birth Weaning Wither height Birth Weaning Heart girth Birth Weaning Flank length Birth Weaning Meanse 1.340.02 4.490.02 23.350.25 25.800.26 19.860.22 22.880.25 10.130.18 13.250.20 9.210.07 11.940.12 12.250.19 14.250.28 21.200.27 24.580.24 21.890.26 25.010.24 10.590.14 13.560.12 Coefficient of variation 9.35 3.15 8.03 8.19 8.25 8.69 12.91 11.92 5.79 7.85 11.52 10.38 9.38 7.71 8.93 7.67 8.93 6.96

Table 2. Correlation coefficient between traits at birth (above diagonal) and at weaning below diagonal WT BL RH RL RW SW WH HG FL WT BL RH RL RW SW WH HG FL .57 .32 .39 .60 .51 .36 .40 .43 .52 .25 .50 .32 .60 .45 .44 .25 .11 .19 .25 .39 .58 .10 .24 .37 .41 .39 .23 .13 .35 .77 .60 .82 .59 .16 .43 .58 .54 -.13 .42 .34 .56 .12 .60 .60 .18 .56 -.16 .11 .55 .36 .23 .49 -.24 .06 .39 .57 -.26 .25

.39 .48 .10

.56 .74 .37 .94 .62 .87 .92

-.26 -.03 -.29 -.10

Proceedings of 34th Scientific conference of Tanzanian Society of Animal Production Arusha 2011

Table 3. Traits

Analysis of direct and indirect effect of traits at birth correlation coeff. Direct effect BL .446 .318 .272 .296 -.718 1.217 -.025 1.456 .172 .213 .030 .239 .191 .113 RH indirect effects RL RW SW WH HG FL

BL RH RL RW SW WH HG FL

.59 .16 .43 .58 .34 .18 .23 .39

.122 .130 .158 -0.155 ,683 .966 .831 .025 .169 -0.702 .154 -0.262 .192 .123 -0.105 .130 .039 .358 -0.126 .664 .530 1.257 .439 .347 .907 .990 1.259 1.138 1.338

.251 .005 .164 .175 .250 .255 .029 .162 -0.36 .219 .081 .017 .164 -0.34

.255 .054 .067 .218 -0.10 1.052 .894

Table 4. Analysis of direct and indirect effect of traits at weaning Traits correlation coeff. BL RH RL RW SW WH HG FL .59 .16 .43 .58 .34 .18 .23 .39 .446 .318 .272 .296 -.718 1.217 -.025 1.456 .172 .213 .030 .239 .191 .113 .251 .005 .164 .175 .250 .255 .029 .162 -0.36 .219 .081 .017 .164 -0.34 Direct effect BL RH indirect effects RL RW SW WH HG FL

.122 .130 .158 -0.155 ,683 .966 .831 .025 .169 -0.702 .154 -0.262 .192 .123 -0.105 .130 .039 .358 -0.126 .664 .530 1.257 .439 .347 .907 .990 1.259 1.138 1.338

.255 .054 .067 .218 -0.10 1.052 .894

Proceedings of 34th Scientific conference of Tanzanian Society of Animal Production Arusha 2011