Morphometric traits of different Deoni cattle strains

Abstract

A study was carried out to record the morphometric traits of different strains of Deoni cattle i.e. Balankya, Shevera and Wannera, an indigenous dual-purpose cattle breed native to Bidar district of Karnataka and adjacent regions. Data on 297 Deoni cows in 13 villages and Livestock Research & Information Centre (Deoni), Hallikhed (B) in Bidar district of Karnataka state was collected as part of the Field Performance Recording Project. Significant differences among the three strains (with overall means given in parenthesis) with respect to horn length (18.2 ± 0.443 cm), chest girth (160.78 ± 0.467 cm) and abdominal girth (166.42 ± 0.516 cm) were noticed. For all other traits like ear length (24.09 ± 0.145 cm), distance between horn bases (14.66 ± 0.111 cm), face length (48.06 ± 0.202 cm), height at withers (126.16 ± 0.338 cm), body length (129.7 ± 0.405 cm), height at hip (129.12 ± 0.388 cm), tail length (88.97 ± 0.415 cm) and body weight (286.17 ± 1.637 kg), no significant differences were recorded. It was concluded that the three strains of Deoni cattle were closely related to each other with respect to morphometric traits.