Phenotypic Correlation Between Body Measurements in Saudi Sheep in Qassim Region

Identify the genetic resources of the sheep and characterize these breeds accurately are very important to enhance the good performances of sheep and expand the knowledge of the differences among those breeds. Body measurements therefore, are perfect indicators to make definition for each breed. The present study is part of a wide one to definite of phenotypic characteristics in local breeds of sheep in Qassim region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The data were collected from three breeds in Qassim region, Noemi, Najdi and Hari. Najdi is the biggest breed of the sheep breeds in Saudi Arabia and it is the main breed in Najd region. Noemi is taking the second size breed of the sheep breeds in Saudi Arabia. Hari is the smallest breed of sheep breeds in Saudi Arabia, it is the main breed in Hejaz and Assir regions, which belong to the sheep with coarse hair, and thick tail strain. Eight body measurements traits were studied, Wither heights (WH), Rum heights (RH), Body length (BL), Head length (HL), Heart girth (HG), Muzzle diameter (MD), Cannon circumference (CC) and Cannon length (CL).

The correlations coefficients among all studied traits were moderate to high and highly significant. The highest correlation coefficient was found between RH and WH traits (0.872), and the lowest one was found between CC and HG traits (0.214). The correlations coefficients between relative traits can help us to understand the similarity among studied traits and can be used in the future in selection program.