Principal components analysis of body measurements of Sohagi sheep in Upper Egypt

SUMMARYThe current study was conducted to evaluate 383 Sohagi sheep in Sohag governorate, Egypt using a multivariate approach. Data were divided into two age groups of 294 young animals less than 10 months old (147 for each sex) and 89 adults animals from 10 months old and above (9 males and 80 females). Body weight (BW) and four body measurements (heart girth (HG), height at withers (HW), height at rump (HR) and body length (BL)) were measured through the period 2017 and 2018. In young and adult sheep, two factors (principal components) were extracted and accounted for 89.2% and 57.8% of the total variance, respectively. The first factor explained 46.4% and 30.6% of the total variance and the higher positive loading was observed for HW, RH and BL in young sheep whereas the higher positive loading was for HW and RH in adult sheep. The second factor accounted for 42.8% and 27.2% of the total variance and the higher positive loading was obtained for BW and HG in young sheep while was influenced by BW, HG and BL in adult sheep. The use of principal components was more proper than the use of original associated traits to explain body measurements in this study. Thus, extracted factors could be useful in breeding programs with enough decrease in the number of measurements traits to be registered to interpret the body conformation. Also, these principal components could be used as factor scores to predict body weight of Sohagi sheep.