Influence of age, body weight, parity and morphometric traits on litter size in prolific Black Bengal goats

Figures & data

Table 1. Hair coat colour of Black Bengal goats belonging to different LZ groups.

	LZ class of doe
Hair coat colour	Single	Twin	Triplet	Quadruplet	Total
Black	207	416	95	4	722 (71.7%)
White	7	18	1	–	26 (2.6%)
Brown	8	22	4	–	34 (3.3%)
Mixed	67	128	28	3	226 (22.4%)
	289 (28.7%)	584 (57.9%)	128 (12.7%)	7 (0.7%)	1008

Table 2. Age of does at breeding, BW during the month of conception, parity, previous LZ and days open (± SEM) of the does belonging to different LZ classes.

	LZ class of doe
Parameter	Single (n = 289)	Twin (n = 584)	Triplet (n = 128)	Quadruplet (n = 7)
Age of does at breeding (months)	20.46^b ± 0.41	24.15^ab ± 0.33	28.44^a ± 0.70	30.00^a ± 2.34
BW during the month of conception (kg)	15.31^b ± 0.51	17.06^ab ± 0.32	18.56^ab ± 0.72	21.00^a ± 2.00
Parity	2.54^b ± 0.05	3.00^b ± 0.04	3.61^a ± 0.09	4.00^a ± 0.46
Previous kidding size	1.35^d ± 0.03	1.72^c ± 0.03	2.25^b ± 0.07	2.86^a ± 0.34
Days open	94.44 ± 2.93	103.95 ± 2.29	97.89 ± 5.22	79.71 ± 13.56

Note: Means for different groups with different superscript letters within a row differ (P < 0.01).

Table 3. Ear length and neck length (± SEM) of the does belonging to different LZ classes.

	LZ class of doe
Parameter	Single (n = 289)	Twin (n = 584)	Triplet (n = 128)	Quadruplet (n = 7)
Ear length (cm)	12.42^c ± 0.10	13.07^bc ± 0.06	13.59^ab ± 0.13	14.14^a ± 0.40
Neck length (cm)	19.59^c ± 0.23	21.30^bc ± 0.17	22.59^ab ± 0.28	24.57^a ± 0.92

Note: Means for different groups with different superscript letters within a row differ (P < 0.01).

Table 4. Mean (± SEM) and correlation between linear traits and LZ.

		LZ
		Single (n = 289)		Twin (n = 584)		Triplet (n = 128)		Quadruplet (n = 7)
Parameter	Month of pregnancy	Mean	SEM	Mean	SEM	Mean	SEM	Mean	SEM	P value	r value	P value*
HRL (cm)	1	55.63^b	0.93	58.61^a ^b	0.51	62.81^a ^b	0.93	64.13^a	3.50	0.001	0.272	0.000
	2	55.83^b	0.53	58.79^b	0.31	63.10^a	0.66	64.27^a	1.29	0.000	0.368	0.000
	3	55.91^b	0.40	58.99^b	0.25	63.20^a	0.50	64.36^a	1.03	0.000	0.354	0.000
	4	56.20^b	0.38	59.33^b	0.23	63.38^a	0.48	64.57^a	1.19	0.000	0.354	0.000
	5	56.25^c	0.38	59.55^b	0.23	63.44^a	0.47	64.89^a	1.25	0.000	0.359	0.000
HRCL (cm)	1	59.65^b	0.89	63.43^a ^b	0.55	67.89^a ^b	0.98	69.90^a	3.50	0.000	0.278	0.000
	2	59.87^b	0.48	63.63^b	0.32	68.02^a	0.68	70.21^a	1.75	0.000	0.381	0.000
	3	60.47^d	0.38	63.89^c	0.26	68.17^b	0.53	71.52^a	1.86	0.000	0.375	0.000
	4	60.71^d	0.35	64.36^c	0.24	68.25^b	0.49	71.71^a	1.87	0.000	0.383	0.000
	5	60.88^b	0.35	64.43^a ^b	0.24	68.48^a ^b	0.49	71.77^a	1.85	0.000	0.386	0.000
BL (cm)	1	50.32^c	0.70	52.88^a ^b ^c	0.45	56.67^a ^b	0.98	57.31^a	1.00	0.000	0.357	0.000
	2	50.51^b	0.37	53.18^b	0.26	56.93^a	0.60	57.60^a	0.66	0.000	0.370	0.000
	3	50.97^c	0.30	53.37^b	0.21	57.55^a	0.46	58.29^a	0.81	0.000	0.394	0.000
	4	51.30^c	0.28	54.58^b	0.20	57.88^a	0.45	59.14^a	0.83	0.000	0.390	0.000
	5	51.73^c	0.28	54.75^b	0.20	58.54^a	0.46	59.71^a	0.92	0.000	0.401	0.000
SL (cm)	1	12.89^y	0.26	13.56^x ^y	0.16	14.11^x ^y	0.28	14.54^x	0.50	0.019	0.212	0.000
	2	12.95^b	0.13	13.56^a ^b	0.08	14.14^a ^b	0.18	14.55^a	0.55	0.000	0.236	0.000
	3	12.97^c	0.10	13.57^b ^c	0.06	14.16^a ^b	0.14	14.56^a	0.53	0.000	0.238	0.000
	4	13.00^c	0.09	13.59^b ^c	0.06	14.18^a ^b	0.14	14.56^a	0.55	0.000	0.236	0.000
	5	13.04^c	0.09	13.60^b ^c	0.06	14.15^a ^b	0.13	14.57^a	0.65	0.000	0.219	0.000
BW (kg)	1	14.31^b	0.51	17.06^a ^b	0.32	18.56^a ^b	0.72	21.00^a	2.00	0.001	0.275	0.000
	2	14.53^c	0.29	17.37^b	0.19	20.72^a ^b	0.45	21.40^a	1.78	0.000	0.448	0.000
	3	15.36^c	0.24	18.20^b	0.17	21.65^a ^b	0.37	23.00^a	1.45	0.000	0.447	0.000
	4	16.41^c	0.25	19.57^b	0.17	23.56^a ^b	0.37	25.00^a	1.80	0.000	0.474	0.000
	5	17.85^c	0.25	21.27^b	0.17	25.71^a ^b	0.37	27.93^a	2.02	0.000	0.503	0.000
HG (cm)	1	57.13^b	0.81	60.88^a ^b	0.44	65.97^a	1.42	67.00^a	1.00	0.000	0.362	0.000
	2	57.20^c	0.42	61.09^b	0.26	66.24^a	0.63	67.20^a	2.22	0.000	0.464	0.000
	3	57.67^c	0.33	61.56^b	0.21	66.64^a	0.48	67.71^a	1.60	0.000	0.480	0.000
	4	58.04^c	0.32	62.17^b	0.21	67.25^a	0.47	68.02^a	2.11	0.000	0.483	0.000
	5	58.43^c	0.32	62.54^b	0.21	67.81^a	0.47	68.29^a	1.77	0.000	0.480	0.000
PG (cm)	1	64.94^c	0.87	69.47^a ^b ^c	0.55	74.82^a ^b	1.70	76.50^a	4.50	0.000	0.298	0.000
	2	65.39^b	0.49	69.91^b	0.33	75.22^a	0.77	77.40^a	1.60	0.000	0.433	0.000
	3	66.38^c	0.40	71.56^b	0.28	76.33^a	0.64	79.29^a	1.21	0.000	0.447	0.000
	4	67.66^b	0.39	73.24^b	0.27	78.81^a	0.62	81.57^a	1.60	0.000	0.475	0.000
	5	69.24^c	0.40	75.23^b	0.28	81.80^a	0.62	83.57^a	1.63	0.000	0.501	0.000
WH (cm)	1	47.13^b	0.82	49.71^b	0.44	52.47^a	0.77	53.30^a	3.00	0.001	0.262	0.000
	2	47.50^b	0.37	49.75^a ^b	0.24	52.53^a	0.50	53.40^a	1.25	0.000	0.311	0.000
	3	48.10^b	0.30	49.97^b	0.19	52.66^a	0.39	53.57^a	1.25	0.000	0.298	0.000
	4	48.23^b	0.29	50.27^b	0.18	52.78^a	0.37	53.63^a	1.46	0.000	0.304	0.000
	5	48.33^b	0.29	50.33^b	0.18	52.81^a	0.37	53.69^a	1.51	0.000	0.296	0.000
CrH (cm)	1	50.11^y	0.79	52.46^y	0.42	54.48^x	0.79	55.00^x	3.00	0.012	0.213	0.002
	2	50.33^b	0.38	52.81^a ^b	0.24	55.19^a	0.50	55.40^a	1.29	0.000	0.316	0.000
	3	51.05^b	0.32	52.92^b	0.19	55.26^a	0.38	55.59^a	0.89	0.000	0.287	0.000
	4	51.11^b	0.30	53.14^a ^b	0.18	55.39^a	0.37	55.79^a	0.89	0.000	0.279	0.000
	5	51.22^b	0.30	53.20^a ^b	0.18	55.45^a	0.36	56.00^a	0.90	0.000	0.257	0.000
PtA (square cm)	1	410.61^b	9.15	454.02^b	8.33	528.53^a	9.83	532.17^a	6.02	0.003	0.243	0.000
	2	420.42^b	7.16	467.22^b	4.79	531.86^a	8.45	544.10^a	7.45	0.000	0.311	0.000
	3	437.47^b	5.98	470.55^b	3.98	539.25^a	9.69	551.92^a	9.71	0.000	0.297	0.000
	4	440.40^b	5.63	482.73^b	3.75	548.41^a	9.43	563.16^a	9.30	0.000	0.320	0.000
	5	448.00^b	5.72	490.84^b	3.78	556.56^a	9.45	579.53^a	8.70	0.000	0.318	0.000
CS (cm)	1	24.15	0.58	24.97	0.27	25.86	0.61	26.50	0.50	0.196	0.102	0.134
	2	24.28^b	0.26	25.06^a ^b	0.16	26.47^a	0.46	26.90^a	1.47	0.000	0.207	0.000
	3	24.48^b	0.20	25.14^a ^b	0.13	26.60^a	0.33	27.14^a	1.54	0.000	0.194	0.000
	4	24.53^b	0.19	25.16^a ^b	0.12	26.67^a	0.32	27.43^a	1.60	0.000	0.200	0.000
	5	24.62^b	0.19	25.09^a ^b	0.12	26.73^a	0.33	27.71^a	1.34	0.000	0.176	0.000
CU (cm)	1	24.74	0.58	24.80	0.31	25.85	0.60	26.80	1.00	0.644	0.053	0.439
	2	24.62	0.25	24.74	0.18	25.86	0.52	26.77	1.83	0.351	0.034	0.301
	3	24.34	0.20	24.68	0.14	25.64	0.36	26.57	1.36	0.354	0.017	0.330
	4	24.24	0.19	24.54	0.14	25.48	0.35	26.29	1.34	0.143	0.058	0.171
	5	24.12	0.20	24.23	0.14	24.98	0.34	25.29	1.41	0.287	0.068	0.231
DTC (cm)	1	10.19^y	0.19	10.77^y	0.12	11.44^x	0.21	12.38^x	0.50	0.039	0.179	0.008
	2	10.21^b	0.10	10.78^b	0.07	11.55^a	0.22	12.40^a	0.75	0.000	0.322	0.000
	3	10.20^c	0.07	10.81^c	0.05	11.60^b	0.16	12.43^a	0.61	0.000	0.325	0.000
	4	10.29^c	0.07	10.91^c	0.05	11.69^b	0.15	12.57^a	0.48	0.000	0.333	0.000
	5	10.34^b	0.07	10.99^b	0.05	11.81^a	0.14	12.63^a	0.53	0.000	0.346	0.000
DTM (cm)	1	11.63^y	0.16	11.99^y	0.09	12.86^x	0.17	13.32^x	1.00	0.043	0.162	0.017
	2	11.71^c	0.08	12.16^b ^c	0.06	12.94^a ^b	0.21	13.40^a	0.60	0.000	0.282	0.000
	3	11.71^c	0.06	12.19^b ^c	0.05	13.02^a ^b	0.15	13.57^a	0.53	0.000	0.291	0.000
	4	11.76^c	0.05	12.27^b ^c	0.05	13.06^a ^b	0.15	13.57^a	0.53	0.000	0.295	0.000
	5	11.80^c	0.06	12.29^b ^c	0.05	13.06^a ^b	0.15	13.69^a	0.47	0.000	0.275	0.000

^a,b,c Means for different groups with different superscript letters within a row differ (P < 0.01).

^x,y Means for different groups with different superscript letters within a row differ (P < 0.05).

* The P value is for the correlation.

Table 5. Stepwise discriminant function results for month-wise discrimination of variables during pregnancy.