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Score and hide-thickness, together with tick burden and body condition score, in four cattle breeds in the South-eastern Free State province of South Africa

Published Article / A study was conducted to determine the differences between four breeds in respect of coat score, hide-thickness, tick burden and body condition score. The study was comprised of 40 heifers - 10 of each breed, namely Afrikaner, Braford, Charolais and Drakensberger. A subjective system of coat scoring, ranging from extremely short to very woolly, was used. Body condition score was measured subjectively, with 1 being emaciated and 9 being obese. Hide-thickness (in mm) and tick count were also determined. Between August 2007 and early March 2008, measurements were carried out on the same 10 animals of each breed, with highly significant differences in body condition score, hide-thickness and tick count being observed between the breeds in all instances. Coat scores differed significantly between breeds in the earlier and latter stages of the study becoming less significant midway through. A significant difference in body condition score within breeds was also found, while hide-thickness did not differ significantly within breeds.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:cut/oai:ir.cut.ac.za:11462/628
Date January 2013
CreatorsFourie, P.J., Foster, L.A., Neser, F.W.C.
ContributorsCentral University of Technology, Free State, Bloemfontein
PublisherJournal for New Generation Sciences, Vol 11, Issue 1: Central University of Technology, Free State, Bloemfontein
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
Languageen_US
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeArticle
Format111 291 bytes, 1 file, Application/PDF
RightsCentral University of Technology, Free State, Bloemfontein
RelationJournal for New Generation Sciences;Vol 11, Issue 1

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