Body Measurements and Body Condition Scoring as Basis for Estimation of Live Weight in Nili-Ravi Buffaloes

Implementation of management recommendations for the Nili-Ravi buffalo in small- and medium scale commercial dairy production systems in Pakistan is hampered by difficulties to determine body weight (BW) of the animal. A workable and reliable method of predicting BW of this breed by using body measurements and body condition scoring (BCS) was therefore explored. Nili-Ravi buffaloes (n=211) were divided into three age groups (1-3 years = G1; >3-8 years = G2; >8 years = G3). Animals were weighed on a mechanical scale and their heart girth (HG), body length (BL) and shoulder height (SH) were measured. In addition, BCS was performed using a 5 point scale. Recorded data were subjected to simple and multiple linear regression analysis. The overall mean values of BW, HG, BL, SH and BCS were 359±160.9 kg, 170±30.1 cm, 130±19.2 cm, 125±14.5 cm and 3.8±0.77. With correlation coefficients (r) of 0.97 (HG), 0.94 (BL), 0.93 (SH) and 0.43 (BCS), the relationship between the individual independent variable with BW were significant (P<0.01) in all cases. The multiple linear regression between BW and HG, BL and BCS was highly significant (P