Morphometric measurements and the relationship with body weight in the Sudanese Dorcas Gazelle and Bohor Reedbuck.

The objectives were to describe the morphometric measurements and determine the best model for estimating the relationship between body weight and morphometric measurements of the two Sudanese antelopes, Dorcas Gazelle (Gazella dorcas) and Bohor Reedbuck (Redunca redunca). Twenty-four animals belonging to two Sudanese antelope species, six males and six females from each species were used. Data on body weight and body measurements were recorded from each species. Averages of body weight and morphometric traits of Bohor Reedbuck were larger than the corresponding values of Dorcas Gazelle, while the opposite was true in the case of horn thickness, which was larger in the later. Stepwise regression analysis indicated that, the best model for Dorcas Gazelle had the variables neck length, belly girth and chest height, while Bohor Reedbuck had body length, head length, neck length, tail length, chest girth and pelvic height. These variables explained 82% of the total variation in body weight of Dorcas Gazelle, and 92% of the variation of Bohor Reedbuck. These results are discussed in relation to morphometric measurements reported for antelopes elsewhere.

The impact of milk suckling protocol and schedule on body weight and some morphometric measurements of Holstein heifers.

Having a successful heifer raising operation is not only relevant financially, but also influential for the future of the dairy herds. Milk feeding has a significant role on the health and growth of calves before weaning, in addition to the direct progressive effects on future performance post-weaning. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the effects of constants amount of milk (CMS) versus step-up/step-down (SUSD) on calf performance in two different suckling schedules of suckling milk gradually till 9th weeks of calf age, then decreasing it till weaning. For this study, forty Holstein heifers calves utilized between birth and 8 months of age were randomly divided into four groups of 10 calves each. Grouping was performed according to suckling protocol (constant versus variable) and suckling schedule (2 versus 3 times/day). Each calf suckled 600 kg of milk in a suckling period of 120 days. Body weight (BW), in addition to five body measurements: chest girth (CG), height at wither (HW), height at rump (HR), body length (BL), and diagonal length (DL), were recorded weekly. The heaviest BW was observed on SUSD calves suckling twice/day which had also the highest HW at weaning. Similarly, were BW, HW, and CG at 6 months of age. Also, the same group achieved the largest daily BW (0.902 kg/day), BL (0.246 cm), and CG (0.338 cm/day) gains during the pre-weaning phase. However, CMS suckled 3 times/day calves had the largest daily BW gain between birth and 6 or 8 months of age. CMS twice/day calves had the largest daily gain in CG from weaning to 6 months and from weaning to 8 months of age followed by SUSD suckling 3 times/day calves. Also, CMS twice/day calves had the largest daily gain in rump height from birth to 8 months of age compared to other groups. It can be concluded that when equal amounts of milk were fed during the suckling period, suckling protocol affected growth rate before weaning but that effect diminished as calf age increased after weaning.