Principal component analysis of morphometric traits in Indonesian male Sakub sheep

Abstract

Principal component analysis (PCA) is a vital statistical technique for defining the morphological structure of livestock but has not been used in Indonesian Sakub sheep. Sixty-six (66) male Sakub sheep aged 2-3 years were used in this study. Morphometric traits consist of body weight (BW), body length (BL), wither height (WH), heart girth (HG), chest depth (CD), chest width (CW), head length (HL), head width (HW), ear length (EL), ear width (EW), rump height (RH), rump length (RL), rump width (RW), and sternum height (SH). Data were analyzed by descriptive and factor analysis (PCA) using the SPSS 26.0 program. The average body measurements of BW, BL, WH, HG, CD, CW, HL, HW, EL, EW, RH, RL, RW and SH were 57.01 kg, 79.09 cm, 75.74 cm, 93.90 cm, 35.83 cm, 20.72 cm, 23.33 cm, 14.04 cm, 14.45 cm, 6.92 cm, 73.95 cm, 24.68 cm, 17.96 cm, and 53.1452 cm, respectively. The PCA for morphometric characteristics revealed two factors of PC1 (BW, BL, WH, HG, HL, RH, and RW) and PC2 (CD, CW, HW, EL, EW, RL, and SH), which explain about 56.60% of the total variation. The findings could help design management, selection, and breeding programmes for male Sakub sheep.