Morphometric characterization of the indigenous goats of Odisha, India

Goats contribute greater value to the rural economy. Phenotypic characterization is a first step to characterize the animals in a particular production environment. A multipurpose sampling of 248 goats (Black Bengal = 75, Ganjam = 70, Bolangir = 48, and Raighar = 55) was studied to characterize the unregistered (Raighar and Bolangir) goats of Odisha and registered (Black Bengal and Ganjam) goats of India. The univariate and multivariate statistical approaches and random forest analysis were used to differentiate the goat populations by their morphometric traits. The morphometric traits were significant for most of the traits between the goat populations. Raighar goats had consistently higher morphometric traits, such as wither height (62.54 cm), rump height (65.37 cm), heart girth (64.92 cm), paunch girth (69.77 cm), and leg length (43.68 cm), indicating the productive type of animals. Canonical discriminant analysis and random forest analysis revealed that body length, leg length, and height at the withers were good indicators to distinguish the goat population in the present study. The results of the present study suggest that random forest analysis can also be used to classify animal populations, provided it is validated by a large sample size. In conclusion, the present study highlighted the morphometric characterization of the indigenous goats of Odisha, India.